The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $11.99 Million in GDS Holdings $GDS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 297,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,988,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GDS. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in GDS by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 576,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,120,000 after purchasing an additional 124,473 shares in the last quarter. Triata Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of GDS by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 2,974,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,803,000 after purchasing an additional 566,345 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of GDS in the fourth quarter valued at $4,983,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of GDS by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 105,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after buying an additional 36,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd raised its holdings in shares of GDS by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,980,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. 33.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at GDS

In related news, VP Yixin Qian sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $352,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,356,991.25. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Judy Qing Ye sold 37,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was 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. 7.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

GDS Stock Performance

Shares of GDS opened at $32.74 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.43. GDS Holdings has a 12-month low of $26.97 and a 12-month high of $48.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GDS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of GDS from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler set a $36.00 target price on shares of GDS in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of GDS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of GDS from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of GDS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.33.

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.