GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Trading Down 5.4% – Here’s What Happened

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) traded down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $28.91 and last traded at $29.5860. 883,985 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 2,265,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $36.00 target price on shares of GDS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on GDS from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised GDS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded GDS from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of GDS in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.04.

GDS Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.62 and its 200 day moving average is $40.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 15th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $1.56. GDS had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 15.62%. The business had revenue of $426.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that GDS Holdings will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Yixin Qian sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $352,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 66,865 shares in the company, valued at $2,356,991.25. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Qing Ye sold 37,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total transaction of $1,354,036.74. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 7.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GDS

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of GDS by 77.7% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,004,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its stake in GDS by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 9,300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,570,000 after buying an additional 2,885,000 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in GDS in the 1st quarter valued at $68,092,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in GDS by 20,731.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,720,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,037,000 after buying an additional 1,711,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP increased its stake in shares of GDS by 295.4% in the 3rd quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 1,648,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.71% of the company’s stock.

About GDS

GDS Holdings Limited, founded in 2001 and headquartered in Shanghai, is a leading network-neutral data center services provider in China. The company operates a portfolio of state-of-the-art data center facilities designed to support the mission-critical IT infrastructure of cloud service providers, internet enterprises, financial institutions, and government entities. GDS was among the first Chinese providers to offer high-density colocation solutions, catering to customers with demanding computing and storage requirements.

GDS specializes in delivering scalable colocation, cross-connect, and interconnection services within its facilities, enabling clients to establish high-speed, low-latency connections to major cloud platforms and internet exchange points.