Cibc World Markets Corp Has $4.44 Million Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Cibc World Markets Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 92,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,934 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $4,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GLPI. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $641,059,000 after buying an additional 889,698 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% in 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 buying an additional 162,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,316,000 after buying an additional 161,689 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,327,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,198,000 after buying an additional 96,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GLPI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,379,436. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total value of $248,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,064 shares of company stock worth $2,778,908 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $50.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company 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.