Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 745 shares during the period. Digital Realty Trust accounts for 1.5% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $4,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.5% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,843,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $783,812,000 after purchasing an additional 117,461 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 3.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,826,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $733,859,000 after acquiring an additional 146,183 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,730,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $719,222,000 after purchasing an additional 129,799 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 501.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 3,607,802 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,955,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $315,999,000 after purchasing an additional 288,772 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DLR traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $176.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,690,910. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $183.21 and a 200-day moving average of $166.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.99, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.64. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.42 and a 12-month high of $198.00.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($1.58). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.24% and a net margin of 8.04%. Digital Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 410.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DLR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $147.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $157.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.32.

Insider Transactions at Digital Realty Trust

In other Digital Realty Trust news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.40, for a total value of $471,873.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust 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.