Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 571,720 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,830,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 571,720 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 4.68% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $617,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Legacy Inc. boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 17,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 786,822 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,893,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 4,218 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 866,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,709,000 after acquiring an additional 41,586 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 49,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,823 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.96.

Insider Activity at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,903 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $98,936.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,298 shares in the company, valued at $2,147,083.02. This trade represents a 4.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. This trade represents 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 valued at $2,778,908. 4.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.69.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. 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 5.97%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.