Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,541,327 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 228,585 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.45% of Digital Realty Trust worth $690,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,503,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,986,458,000 after purchasing an additional 951,567 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 16.8% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,725,971 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $718,584,000 after acquiring an additional 678,165 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 4.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,680,249 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $674,143,000 after purchasing an additional 182,100 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 2,600,217 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $360,858,000 after purchasing an additional 34,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,351,319 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $357,518,000 after purchasing an additional 60,821 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DLR shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho started coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.00.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

DLR stock traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $160.87. 1,449,942 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,835,380. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.94 and a 52 week high of $162.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $151.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.26 billion, a PE ratio of 44.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.60.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($1.43). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Digital Realty Trust

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

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.