Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Dividend Announcement

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. 2,331,833 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the previous session’s volume of 1,962,503 shares.The stock last traded at $141.25 and had previously closed at $144.63.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DLR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Digital Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC increased their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “reduce” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.65.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $142.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.94. The company has a market cap of $44.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.50, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Digital Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 6.0% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 29,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 9,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,209,000. Graypoint LLC bought a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 3.1% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 23,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Digital Realty Trust Company Profile

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.