Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $175.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Digital Realty Trust traded as high as $165.32 and last traded at $165.25, with a volume of 341058 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $163.69.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on DLR. HSBC raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $124.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised Digital Realty Trust from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Argus lowered Digital Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $144.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.17.

Insider Transactions at Digital Realty Trust

In other Digital Realty Trust news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 600 shares of Digital Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total transaction of $90,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,604.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Digital Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Digital Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1,125.0% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $51.63 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.53.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($1.43). Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 135.56%.

Digital Realty Trust Company Profile

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges.