Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 5,888 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,888 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. owned about 0.08% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $9,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the second quarter worth $31,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 416.7% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 18,500.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 578.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at $5,621,957.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,660,329.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,478 shares of company stock worth $2,495,429. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI opened at $51.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.91, a current ratio of 5.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.80 and a twelve month high of $52.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.47 and a 200-day moving average of $46.74.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 52.79% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $380.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.95 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.18%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.