Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.68.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DLR shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Down 1.3 %

Digital Realty Trust stock opened at $179.38 on Thursday. 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 $59.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $183.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.16. Digital Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $130.28 and a twelve month high of $198.00.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($1.58). Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.24% and a net margin of 8.04%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Digital Realty Trust will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 410.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DLR. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,843,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $783,812,000 after purchasing an additional 117,461 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 3.1% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 146,183 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 129,799 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 5.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 228,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 501.7% in the third 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 valued at $700,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,607,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% 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.