Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $53.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 12.98% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $46.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.57. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $345,351.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,513,968. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,016 shares of company stock valued at $741,943 over the last three months. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew 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 increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the third 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,534,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,726,000 after purchasing an additional 341,492 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $185,564,000 after purchasing an additional 350,250 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.