Clearbridge Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,456 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Digital Realty Trust worth $31,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DLR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,141,890,000. Resolution Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 106.7% during the 3rd quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 2,351,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $284,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,526 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,390,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,735,240,000 after acquiring an additional 971,032 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,647,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,046,522,000 after acquiring an additional 394,682 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 1,825.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 401,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,623,000 after acquiring an additional 380,904 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of DLR stock opened at $142.27 on Friday. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.33 and a 1-year high of $154.18. The firm has a market cap of $44.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.56%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 owns 8,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,224,091.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $154.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.65.

Digital Realty Trust 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.