Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stake in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,305 shares during the period. Digital Realty Trust makes up approximately 0.5% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $17,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 501.7% in 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 worth $700,224,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607,802 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,950,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $700,486,000 after purchasing an additional 79,322 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 2.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,615,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $261,375,000 after purchasing an additional 40,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 16.5% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,285,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $208,094,000 after purchasing an additional 181,868 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.40, for a total transaction of $471,873.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Digital Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE DLR opened at $156.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.54 and a 12-month high of $198.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

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.