GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $42.13, but opened at $44.12. GDS shares last traded at $43.7050, with a volume of 518,508 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GDS shares. UBS Group set a $55.00 price target on GDS in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Macquarie set a $46.70 target price on shares of GDS in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on GDS from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of GDS in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of GDS in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GDS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.70.

GDS Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.28 and a 200 day moving average of $35.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $405.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.81 million. GDS had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 49.60%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that GDS Holdings will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GDS

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GDS. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in GDS during the first quarter worth about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in GDS during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in GDS by 83,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in GDS by 1,123.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in GDS by 165.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. 33.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.