Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 881,544 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 55,392 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.60% of Digital Realty Trust worth $78,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DLR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,540,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,553,286,000 after buying an additional 1,374,273 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 3.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. now owns 5,358,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $474,204,000 after buying an additional 155,600 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 6.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,253,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $464,882,000 after buying an additional 333,477 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,416,718 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $182,752,000 after buying an additional 1,048,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,773,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,104,000 after buying an additional 37,947 shares in the last quarter.
Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:DLR) traded down 2.75% on Thursday, reaching $102.00. 1,946,085 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Digital Realty Trust Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.66 and a 52-week high of $113.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion and a PE ratio of 93.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.06.
Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.09. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm earned $504.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.08 million. Digital Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust Inc. will post $5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 15th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 13th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%.
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DLR shares. Barclays PLC raised their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $110.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $106.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank AG reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 target price (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Monday. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co. started coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 31st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.07.
In other Digital Realty Trust news, CEO A William Stein sold 16,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.32, for a total value of $1,430,638.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bernard Geoghegan sold 586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total transaction of $53,150.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,185 shares in the company, valued at $651,679.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company owns, acquires, develops and manages technology-related real estate. The Company is focused on providing data center and colocation solutions for domestic and international tenants across a range of industry verticals ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, healthcare and consumer products.