Invesco Ltd. Sells 746,946 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Invesco Ltd. lowered its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,981,771 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 746,946 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.72% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $95,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,830,944 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $617,938,000 after purchasing an additional 571,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,245,884 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $300,395,000 after purchasing an additional 165,024 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $206,468,000 after buying an additional 211,657 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $176,123,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,981,567 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $143,592,000 after buying an additional 394,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GLPI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.11.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.52. The stock had a trading volume of 904,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,824. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $49.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.42. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.97 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a market cap of $13.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Gaming and Leisure Properties's payout ratio is 105.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total value of $254,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,173,098.17. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 54,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,674,516. This represents a 24.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,933 shares of company stock valued at $2,533,487 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.37% of the company's stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in the provision of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. The company was founded on February 13, 2013 and is headquartered in Wyomissing, PA.