Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 7,300 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 786,822 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $37,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPI. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.11.

Insider Activity

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 54,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,674,516. The trade was a 24.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 140,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,173,098.17. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,933 shares of company stock valued at $2,533,487 over the last quarter. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $47.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.65. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. Research analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.92%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.