Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) Stock Price Up 6.6% After Dividend Announcement

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR – Get Rating) shares traded up 6.6% on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $92.70 and last traded at $92.16. 2,906,772 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the average session volume of 2,365,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.49.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.29%. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 439.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Digital Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.92.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 83.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.53.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($1.46). The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Digital Realty Trust news, EVP Dyer Corey sold 4,401 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.19, for a total transaction of $458,540.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,128,408.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 1,500 shares of Digital Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.47, for a total value of $146,205.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $991,854.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dyer Corey sold 4,401 shares of Digital Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.19, for a total value of $458,540.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,026 shares in the company, valued at $3,128,408.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aspire Private Capital LLC purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,316,867,000. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 116.4% during the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Digital Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in Digital Realty Trust by 156.1% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 95.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Digital Realty Trust Company Profile

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Digital Realty Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. It serves the following industries: artificial intelligence (AI), networks, cloud, digital media, mobile, financial services, healthcare, and gaming.