Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) Short Interest Up 8.7% in December

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,990,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the November 30th total of 6,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

DLR stock traded up $1.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $177.33. 1,434,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,871,554. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.02, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Digital Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $130.00 and a 12 month high of $198.00.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($1.58). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Digital Realty Trust will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 410.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Digital Realty Trust

In other Digital Realty Trust news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the business’s 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Digital Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,843,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $783,812,000 after buying an additional 117,461 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 3.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,826,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $733,859,000 after purchasing an additional 146,183 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,730,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $719,222,000 after purchasing an additional 129,799 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 5.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,541,327 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $690,498,000 after purchasing an additional 228,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 501.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,326,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $700,224,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607,802 shares in the last quarter. 99.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DLR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on 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 lifted their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $157.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $177.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.