Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 107.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,892 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,535 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Digital Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,858,428,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,080,550 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $900,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854,748 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $546,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,043 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 13,842.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,131,131 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $162,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,018 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Digital Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $182,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

DLR stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 780,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,018,742. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company's 50 day moving average is $170.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.54. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.95 and a fifty-two week high of $198.00. The stock has a market cap of $58.13 billion, a PE ratio of 161.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.04. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 7.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Digital Realty Trust's payout ratio is 456.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DLR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. New Street Research raised Digital Realty Trust to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $187.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 6,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,151,133. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.