Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 16.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,725,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 678,165 shares during the period. Digital Realty Trust makes up 3.8% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $718,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $2,141,890,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Digital Realty Trust by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,503,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,986,458,000 after buying an additional 951,567 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $107,372,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,087,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 784,048 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,517,000 after acquiring an additional 245,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of DLR opened at $149.34 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $46.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.60. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.94 and a 12 month high of $162.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $151.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.45.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($1.43). Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total transaction of $90,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,604.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DLR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Digital Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $144.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus lowered Digital Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $144.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.00.

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.