Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,950,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 79,322 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.19% of Digital Realty Trust worth $700,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 480.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 209 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DLR. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $179.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Digital Realty Trust

In other news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.40, for a total value of $471,873.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

DLR stock traded up $2.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $171.94. 2,131,823 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,340,513. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.07. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.42 and a 52 week high of $198.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.03 billion, a PE ratio of 106.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.63.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $1.46. Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 2.97%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

About Digital Realty Trust

Digital Realty Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. It serves the following industries: artificial intelligence (AI), networks, cloud, digital media, mobile, financial services, healthcare, and gaming.