VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

VNET Group, Inc. – Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.81, but opened at $8.14. VNET Group shares last traded at $8.5160, with a volume of 1,554,881 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on VNET shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of VNET Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Zacks Research upgraded VNET Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of VNET Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America set a $16.30 target price on VNET Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.79 target price on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.03.

VNET Group Trading Down 8.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of -5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The information technology services provider reported ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($1.17). VNET Group had a negative net margin of 22.01% and a negative return on equity of 31.59%. The business had revenue of $390.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.47 million. As a group, analysts expect that VNET Group, Inc. – Unsponsored ADR will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sean Shao sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.71, for a total value of $102,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 983,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,682,332.20. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 12.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VNET Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Triata Capital Ltd grew its holdings in VNET Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 12,498,810 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $105,740,000 after buying an additional 550,841 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VNET Group during the 4th quarter worth $65,650,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VNET Group by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,386 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $53,174,000 after acquiring an additional 796,266 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of VNET Group by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,283,660 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $44,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of VNET Group by 674.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,343,088 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $23,067,000 after acquiring an additional 2,911,604 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.83% of the company’s stock.

VNET Group Company Profile

VNET Group, Inc (NASDAQ: VNET) is a leading carrier-neutral internet data center (IDC) services provider in China. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Beijing, the company delivers a full spectrum of infrastructure solutions that support the growing digital economy. Its core offerings include data center colocation, managed hosting, network connectivity, and disaster recovery services designed to meet the performance and reliability requirements of enterprise and internet content customers.

The company’s product portfolio spans private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud deployments, enabling clients to scale computing resources on demand.