Short Interest in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) Grows By 29.3%

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,710,000 shares, a growth of 29.3% from the March 15th total of 8,280,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

DLR stock opened at $149.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a PE ratio of 92.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.92. Digital Realty Trust has a one year low of $129.95 and a one year high of $198.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $151.31 and a 200-day moving average of $167.92.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $1.46. Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 2.97%. As a group, analysts expect that Digital Realty Trust will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLR. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,905,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $692,630,000 after purchasing an additional 607,132 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 66,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,959 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,682,000 after buying an additional 11,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on DLR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $194.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.79.

Digital Realty Trust Company Profile

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.