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

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 6,281 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 110% compared to the typical volume of 2,985 call options.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DLR traded up $1.92 on Monday, reaching $160.85. 614,271 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,830,685. The business’s 50-day moving average is $151.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Digital Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $113.94 and a fifty-two week high of $162.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.15, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.60.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) last released 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). Digital Realty Trust had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Digital Realty Trust will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DLR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $144.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Argus downgraded shares of Digital Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.00.

Insider Transactions at Digital Realty Trust

In other news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total value of $90,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,604.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Digital Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DLR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Digital Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.