LPL Financial LLC Acquires 44,001 Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,001 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $45,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 501.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,326,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $700,224,000 after buying an additional 3,607,802 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Digital Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $132,980,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth $125,336,000. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 88.8% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 788,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,812,000 after acquiring an additional 370,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,428,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of DLR opened at $144.95 on Friday. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.54 and a 1-year high of $198.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.80. The stock has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a PE ratio of 89.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 301.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DLR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $147.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.95.

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.