Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 25,358 Shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 25,358 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $78,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 6.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Digital Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $657,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 162.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 121,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,684,000 after purchasing an additional 75,214 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 161.0% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 50,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 31,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 6.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of DLR stock opened at $185.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.44 and a 200-day moving average of $161.88. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $130.00 and a one year high of $198.00. The company has a market cap of $61.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders 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 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 410.08%.

Insider Transactions at Digital Realty Trust

In related news, CFO Matt Mercier sold 2,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on DLR shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $177.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $157.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.68.

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.