Digital Realty Trust Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:DLR)

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

Insider Transactions at Digital Realty Trust

In related news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 3,400 shares of Digital Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLR. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1,125.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in Digital Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 528.6% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Digital Realty Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:DLR traded up $1.36 on Friday, hitting $142.85. 1,798,142 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,956,292. The company has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 48.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.54. Digital Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $86.33 and a 1 year high of $154.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.68.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 164.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DLR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “strong-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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.33.

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.