Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Takes Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 71.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 38,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 16,058 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 36,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 98,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,763,000 after acquiring an additional 46,187 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 73,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total value of $57,412.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 53,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,673,950.90. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total value of $254,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,842 shares of company stock worth $1,153,961. 4.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush set a $55.00 price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Mizuho lifted their price target 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, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.63.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $47.61 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.86 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.90. The company has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $395.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.27 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.55%. This is an increase from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.19%.

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.