Stephen E. Westhead Sells 9,425 Shares of QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (QTS) Stock

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:QTS) Director Stephen E. Westhead sold 9,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.44, for a total transaction of $513,097.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,349 shares in the company, valued at $617,839.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE QTS) opened at 52.29 on Friday. QTS Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.01 and a 1-year high of $56.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.07 and a 200-day moving average of $51.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 133.39 and a beta of 0.47.

QTS Realty Trust (NYSE:QTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63. The company had revenue of $107.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.66 million. QTS Realty Trust had a net margin of 4.60% and a return on equity of 2.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that QTS Realty Trust, Inc. will post $0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Investors of record on Friday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 21st. QTS Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 390.00%.

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Several research firms recently weighed in on QTS. BidaskClub upgraded shares of QTS Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank AG restated a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of QTS Realty Trust in a report on Friday, August 11th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of QTS Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Jefferies Group LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of QTS Realty Trust in a report on Friday, June 9th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of QTS Realty Trust from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. QTS Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.08.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in QTS Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $113,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in QTS Realty Trust by 5.6% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in QTS Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $156,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in QTS Realty Trust by 211.1% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 2,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in QTS Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $200,000.

About QTS Realty Trust

QTS Realty Trust, Inc (QTS) is a provider of secure, compliant data center solutions, hybrid cloud and fully managed services. The Company owns, develops and operates carrier-neutral and multi-tenant data centers. Its data centers are facilities that house the network and computer equipment of multiple customers and provide access to a range of communications carriers.