GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Shares Down 5.4% – Time to Sell?

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS)’s share price traded down 5.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $28.91 and last traded at $29.5860. 883,985 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 2,265,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $36.00 price target on shares of GDS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised GDS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of GDS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of GDS in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.04.

GDS Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.62 and its 200 day moving average is $40.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insider Activity at GDS

In other news, VP Yixin Qian sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president owned 66,865 shares in the company, valued at $2,356,991.25. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Qing Ye sold 37,394 shares of GDS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $1,354,036.74. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 7.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GDS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in GDS by 1,123.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of GDS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GDS during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GDS during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in GDS during the first quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.