Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 11.9%, selling 248,096 shares, and now holds 1,830,221 shares valued at approximately $262 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Digital Realty Trust, with Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifting its stake by 33.3%, owning 100,000 shares worth around $14.3 million.
• Digital Realty Trust announced a quarterly dividend of $1.22 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.9%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 128.08%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,830,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 248,096 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.54% of Digital Realty Trust worth $262,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,378,860 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,505,367,000 after purchasing an additional 925,674 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $900,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854,748 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,819,606 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $854,661,000 after purchasing an additional 492,692 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,656,733 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $825,771,000 after purchasing an additional 96,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,384,451 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $777,495,000 after purchasing an additional 48,522 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Digital Realty Trust

In other news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total transaction of $30,887.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,522 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

DLR traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $166.17. 1,313,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,101,110. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $174.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.95 and a 1-year high of $198.00.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on DLR. Guggenheim began coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial set a $199.00 target price on Digital Realty Trust and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $208.00 to $206.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, New Street Research raised Digital Realty Trust to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Digital Realty Trust currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.68.

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.