GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $30.41, but opened at $31.87. GDS shares last traded at $31.7750, with a volume of 260,432 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GDS shares. Weiss Ratings raised GDS from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of GDS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of GDS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of GDS from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of GDS in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GDS has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.04.

GDS Stock Up 5.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.16 and its 200-day moving average is $39.82.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judy Qing Ye sold 37,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total transaction of $1,354,036.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Yixin Qian sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 value of $352,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 66,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,356,991.25. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 7.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GDS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GDS. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of GDS in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GDS during the first quarter worth about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GDS during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GDS in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in GDS by 245.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. 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.