Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 2,592 Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter, owning a total of 45,513 shares valued at approximately $6.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their stakes in Digital Realty Trust, most notably Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC, which raised its position by 33.3% during the same period.
• Digital Realty Trust reported earnings of $1.87 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.0% to $1.49 billion.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,513 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,592 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $6,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 3.6% in the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,634 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 0.9% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 68,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,844,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 127.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 455,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $65,218,000 after purchasing an additional 254,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 935,549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $134,055,000 after purchasing an additional 10,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Digital Realty Trust

In other news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total transaction of $30,887.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,151,133. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DLR. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $208.00 to $206.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target (up from $174.00) on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.68.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:DLR traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.26. 1,098,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,484,179. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.95 and a 1-year high of $198.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $174.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.43. The firm has a market cap of $57.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.13. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 23.98%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Digital Realty Trust's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 128.08%.

Digital Realty Trust Company Profile

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.