Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Buys 3,437 Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,437 shares during the quarter. Digital Realty Trust comprises approximately 1.5% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $3,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robbins Farley increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 0.7% in the first quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 10,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Digital Realty Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 99.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DLR shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $193.00 price target (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark R. Patterson sold 175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total value of $30,887.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,151,133. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Down 3.1%

Digital Realty Trust stock opened at $172.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.97 billion, a PE ratio of 160.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.95 and a fifty-two week high of $198.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $168.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.14.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.04. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 456.07%.

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.