Equities research analysts at SunTrust started coverage on shares of QTS Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:QTS) in a report released on Monday, The Fly reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. SunTrust’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.22% from the stock’s current price.

In related news, insider Shirley E. Goza sold 3,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.30, for a total transaction of $128,634.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,396 shares in the company, valued at $778,150.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Shirley E. Goza sold 36,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total value of $1,508,036.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $761,594.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on QTS. KeyBanc reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of QTS Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered QTS Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Group upped their target price on QTS Realty Trust from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. RBC Capital boosted their price target on QTS Realty Trust from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank boosted their price target on QTS Realty Trust from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $47.20.

Shares of QTS Realty Trust (NYSE:QTS) traded down 2.35% during midday trading on Monday, reaching $44.07. 127,617 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. QTS Realty Trust has a one year low of $34.00 and a one year high of $46.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.59 and its 200-day moving average is $42.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion and a P/E ratio of 75.98.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 15th.

Other hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group boosted its stake in shares of QTS Realty Trust by 58.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group now owns 6,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of QTS Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $296,000. RMR Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QTS Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $451,000. Jennison Associates boosted its stake in shares of QTS Realty Trust by 4.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates now owns 1,974,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,262,000 after buying an additional 84,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Frank Co boosted its stake in shares of QTS Realty Trust by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Frank Co now owns 511,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,169,000 after buying an additional 210,021 shares during the last quarter.

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:QTS) is an owner, developer and operator of carrier-neutral and multi-tenant data centers. The Company’s data centers are facilities that house the network and computer equipment of multiple customers and provide access to a range of communications carriers. The Company has an integrated platform through which it owns and operates its data centers and provides a range of IT infrastructure solutions. Its spectrum of core data center products referred to as 3Cs, which consists of Custom Data Center, Colocation and Cloud and Managed Services. The Company operates a portfolio of over 12 data centers across approximately eight states. The Company’s data centers facilities used by its customers to house, power and cool the networking equipment and computer systems that support their business processes. QTS’s customers include financial institutions, healthcare companies, Government agencies, communications service providers, software companies and Internet companies.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:QTS

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