Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Digital Realty Trust Call Options (NYSE:DLR)

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 6,281 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 110% compared to the typical volume of 2,985 call options.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of DLR opened at $160.85 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. Digital Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $113.94 and a 52-week high of $162.58.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($1.43). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Digital Realty Trust will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 135.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised Digital Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $144.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $144.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Digital Realty Trust

In other news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 600 shares of Digital Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total transaction of $90,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,604.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Digital Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,503,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,986,458,000 after purchasing an additional 951,567 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,826,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $733,859,000 after purchasing an additional 146,183 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,730,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $719,222,000 after acquiring an additional 129,799 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,725,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $718,584,000 after acquiring an additional 678,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Digital Realty Trust by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,541,327 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $690,498,000 after acquiring an additional 228,585 shares during the last quarter. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Digital Realty Trust Company 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.