Matthew Demchyk Sells 3,382 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Stock

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 3,382 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.48, for a total value of $170,723.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,504,817.60. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Matthew Demchyk also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 28th, Matthew Demchyk sold 1,138 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total transaction of $57,412.10.
• On Monday, January 27th, Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, Matthew Demchyk sold 10,474 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.62, for a total transaction of $509,245.88.
• On Thursday, January 2nd, Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $49.86 on Tuesday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.79. The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. 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) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.10%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 105.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPI. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,498,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $650,094,000 after buying an additional 5,797,299 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,830,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $617,938,000 after acquiring an additional 571,720 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,135,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $624,356,000 after purchasing an additional 162,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,245,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $300,395,000 after purchasing an additional 165,024 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,468,000 after buying an additional 211,657 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GLPI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.04.

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.