Eastern Bank Cuts Position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Key Points

• Eastern Bank significantly reduced its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 79.8% in Q1 2023, holding just 4,700 shares valued at approximately $673,000.
• Various institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Deutsche Bank AG, have increased their holdings in Digital Realty Trust, reflecting a strong interest in the company.
• Digital Realty Trust reported a better-than-expected EPS of $1.87 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and indicating a year-over-year revenue increase of 10%.

Eastern Bank reduced its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 79.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,581 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DLR. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,080,550 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $900,934,000 after buying an additional 1,854,748 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 66.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,081,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $546,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,043 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 13,842.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,131,131 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,018 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $182,126,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 41.5% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,129,819 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $448,422,000 after purchasing an additional 918,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DLR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (up from $174.00) on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $177.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.68.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DLR traded down $4.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $172.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,662,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,393. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.95 and a 12-month high of $198.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.16, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Digital Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 128.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of Digital Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total value of $30,887.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,151,133. The trade was a 2.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.