Amundi Cuts Holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Amundi decreased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,575,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 278,359 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $74,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 647.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,025,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754,370 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $49,188,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,075,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,682,000 after acquiring an additional 821,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 812,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,820,000 after acquiring an additional 800,000 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays decreased their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.96.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 0.1 %

GLPI opened at $50.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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. The company 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. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.