Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Holdings in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 6,610 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $4,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DLR. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,789 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 10,094 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,491 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 628,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $111,444,000 after purchasing an additional 10,689 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Digital Realty Trust news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of DLR stock traded up $1.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $176.07. 1,392,131 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,997,747. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $162.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.07. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.95 and a 12-month high of $198.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.95.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.04. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.97% and a net margin of 10.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 456.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DLR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $193.00 price objective (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $188.00 to $174.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $208.00 to $206.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.10.

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.