Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 32,190 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 389,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,190 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $18,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPI. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,059,000 after purchasing an additional 889,698 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 162,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,468,000 after buying an additional 211,657 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,981,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,592,000 after buying an additional 394,069 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 140,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,173,098.17. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,064 shares of company stock valued at $2,778,908 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Down 0.2 %

GLPI stock opened at $50.40 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.70. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60.

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 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 company had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. On average, research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLPI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.