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

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,118,834 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 253,755 shares during the period. Digital Realty Trust makes up approximately 0.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.70% of Digital Realty Trust worth $285,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 18.5% in the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 2.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 720,618 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $87,209,000 after buying an additional 19,931 shares in the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 48,347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,507,000 after buying an additional 5,197 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 299,551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,314,000 after buying an additional 16,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,390,848 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,735,240,000 after buying an additional 971,032 shares in the last quarter. 99.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Digital Realty Trust Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DLR traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.83. 1,798,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,403,621. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $86.33 and a one year high of $154.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.79.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Digital Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 164.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.50, for a total transaction of $494,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,224,091.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DLR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Digital Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Digital Realty Trust from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Digital Realty Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.33.

About Digital Realty Trust

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges.