Advisors Preferred LLC Buys Shares of 12,300 Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,796,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 114.0% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 259 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 306.7% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 305 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Digital Realty Trust Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of DLR traded down $2.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,602,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,482,118. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.95 and a 1 year high of $198.00. The firm has a market cap of $59.90 billion, a PE ratio of 46.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock's 50 day moving average is $173.62 and its 200 day moving average is $164.02.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 23.98% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 128.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DLR has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $193.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $188.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Digital Realty Trust news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total transaction of $30,887.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,133. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Digital Realty Trust

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.