GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Trading 7.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS)’s stock price traded up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $45.49 and last traded at $46.1210. 605,267 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 2,039,731 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of GDS in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded GDS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised GDS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised GDS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.90.

GDS Stock Down 2.1%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.83. The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 86.06 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter. GDS had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 8.79%. The company had revenue of $417.60 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that GDS Holdings will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of GDS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sachem Head Capital Management LP raised its holdings in GDS by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 9,300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,570,000 after buying an additional 2,885,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in GDS by 77.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,004,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,115,000 after buying an additional 3,062,658 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its position in GDS by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,258,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,756 shares during the last quarter. Triata Capital Ltd grew its position in GDS by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 2,974,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,803,000 after acquiring an additional 566,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP grew its position in GDS by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 2,167,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,635,000 after acquiring an additional 518,921 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.71% of the company’s stock.

GDS Company Profile

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.