GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Shares Up 7.4% – Time to Buy?

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) shares rose 7.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $41.70 and last traded at $41.2750. Approximately 1,945,152 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the average daily volume of 1,763,850 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GDS shares. Macquarie set a $46.70 price objective on shares of GDS in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of GDS in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on GDS from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of GDS in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on GDS in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GDS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.70.

GDS Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $405.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $402.81 million. GDS had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 49.60%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that GDS Holdings will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GDS

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in GDS by 77.7% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,004,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,115,000 after buying an additional 3,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd grew its holdings in GDS by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 4,406,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,073 shares during the period. Carrhae Capital LLP raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of GDS by 1,671.6% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,227,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,934 shares during the period. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of GDS by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,258,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,756 shares in the last quarter. 33.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.