Cooper Financial Group Acquires 644 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 10.5% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 27,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 2nd quarter worth $230,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 92,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,189,000 after purchasing an additional 9,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total value of $151,170.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 146,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,397,252. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,016 shares of company stock valued at $741,943 over the last 90 days. 4.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $46.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.57. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 11.35, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLPI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

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.