Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 25,358 Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 485,967 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 25,358 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Digital Realty Trust worth $78,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 6.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,530 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Digital Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $657,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 162.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 121,635 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,684,000 after purchasing an additional 75,214 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 161.0% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 50,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 31,272 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 6.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of DLR traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $185.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,502,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,870,825. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $61.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.88. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.00 and a 1-year high of $198.00.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($1.58). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 2.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Digital Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 410.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $157.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.68.

Insider Transactions at Digital Realty Trust

In other news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.40, for a total transaction of $471,873.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

About Digital Realty Trust

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.