Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It But Hedge Funds Love It

Is Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) a good investment?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges shareholders can use to watch Mr. Market. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as necessary, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the stock market universe. There are a number of stimuli for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to discuss the latest info for Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR).

Hedge fund activity in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)

Heading into Q3, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 56% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR). Citadel Investment Group has a $51.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Charles Clough of Clough Capital Partners, with a $34.1 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, assembled the most valuable position in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR). Citadel Investment Group had 51.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners also made a $34.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

How are insiders trading Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR). These stocks are Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM), Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE:KRC), Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (NYSE:ARE), Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY), and Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP). This group of stocks are the members of the reit – office industry and their market caps are similar to DLR’s market cap.

Using the returns demonstrated by our research, average investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) is no exception.

Discover how hedge fund piggybacking can benefit you