Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $175.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Digital Realty Trust traded as high as $165.32 and last traded at $165.25, with a volume of 341058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.69.

DLR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. HSBC raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total transaction of $90,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,604.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 6,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 75.2% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 12,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Garrison Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 199 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $51.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $155.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.76.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($1.43). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 5.93%. Digital Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 135.56%.

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.