Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) Shares Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 253,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 6,360 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.08% of Digital Realty Trust worth $41,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in Digital Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Digital Realty Trust Trading Down 0.5 %

Digital Realty Trust stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $185.04. 1,566,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,874,898. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.50, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $178.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.33. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.00 and a fifty-two week high of $198.00.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($1.58). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.24% and a net margin of 8.04%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 410.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DLR. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $177.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $157.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.68.

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.