Machina Capital S.A.S. Buys Shares of 6,160 Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,572,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,711,432,000 after purchasing an additional 555,332 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,771,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $399,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,397 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,436,482 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $293,182,000 after acquiring an additional 340,784 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,277,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,442,000 after acquiring an additional 275,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,378,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $166,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,765 shares during the period. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GLPI. Mizuho lowered their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, Director E Scott Urdang purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.00 per share, with a total value of $112,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,050,825. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.20. 1,843,955 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,429,900. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.73. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $51.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 6.47, a quick ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $376.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.44 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 16.79%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 112.18%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.