Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,021,342 Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,021,342 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $49,188,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.37% of Gaming and Leisure Properties at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2,547.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 556 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 142.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 654 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total transaction of $248,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 145,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,064 shares of company stock worth $2,778,908. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GLPI. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.96.

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Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $50.67 on Wednesday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $52.60. The stock has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.64 and a 200-day moving average of $49.81. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. Gaming and Leisure Properties's payout ratio is 105.92%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in 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.

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