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

Shares of GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $34.90, but opened at $36.50. GDS shares last traded at $37.6450, with a volume of 511,980 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GDS. Macquarie set a $46.70 target price on shares of GDS in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of GDS in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of GDS in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen dropped 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on GDS in a report on Monday, December 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.70.

GDS Stock Up 9.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.61.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.51. GDS had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 49.60%.The firm had revenue of $405.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $402.81 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that GDS Holdings will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of GDS

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in GDS by 77.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,004,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,658 shares during the period. Tekne Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in GDS by 6.9% in the second quarter. Tekne Capital Management LLC now owns 6,263,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,474,000 after buying an additional 403,256 shares during the last quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of GDS by 46.4% during the second quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 4,406,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,073 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its position in shares of GDS by 35.0% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,258,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triata Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of GDS by 35.5% during the third quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 2,407,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,188,000 after acquiring an additional 630,339 shares during the last quarter. 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.