Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,710,000 shares, a growth of 29.3% from the March 15th total of 8,280,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company's stock are short sold.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE DLR traded up $1.91 on Thursday, reaching $153.50. The company had a trading volume of 240,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,034,162. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $150.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.61. Digital Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $129.95 and a 12 month high of $198.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.69 billion, a PE ratio of 94.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $1.46. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.97% and a net margin of 10.85%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Digital Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stolper Co lifted its position in Digital Realty Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stolper Co now owns 12,648 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,243,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $769,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Robbins Farley lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 10,956 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on DLR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho cut their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $211.00 to $177.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $201.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.68.

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.