Digital Realty Trust Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:DLR)

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 11,089 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 315% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,669 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DLR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $154.00 price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.33.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of Digital Realty Trust stock opened at $142.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 48.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.54. Digital Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $86.33 and a 12-month high of $154.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.79.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 164.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Digital Realty Trust news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 3,400 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 8,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,224,091.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLR. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $575,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 52,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,403,000 after purchasing an additional 18,411 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 121,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Finally, Harrington Investments INC lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 13,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

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.