Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 79,322 Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,950,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 79,322 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $700,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 66,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,959 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 6.4% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 381,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,643,000 after purchasing an additional 23,028 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 207.3% during the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 46,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,540,000 after purchasing an additional 31,430 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,682,000 after purchasing an additional 11,405 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 16,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,937,000 after purchasing an additional 5,788 shares during the period. 99.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE DLR opened at $164.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $54.42 billion, a PE ratio of 137.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.63. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.42 and a 52 week high of $198.00. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.94.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $1.46. Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 2.24%. Research analysts predict that Digital Realty Trust, Inc. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Digital Realty Trust news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.40, for a total transaction of $471,873.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DLR. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $185.00 to $194.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.95.

Digital Realty Trust Profile

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.