Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 911,191 Shares of GDS Holdings $GDS

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC significantly increased its stake in GDS Holdings, buying 911,191 additional shares in Q1 and lifting its total position by 294.4% to 1,220,693 shares worth about $48.7 million.
• GDS has seen mixed but generally positive analyst sentiment, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and a market-average target price of $48.33; recent updates included upgrades from Zacks and others, though TD Cowen trimmed its price target slightly to $36.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected earnings, posting $1.53 EPS versus consensus for a loss, while revenue rose 23.7% year over year to $426.12 million. However, some insiders sold shares, including a director and the vice president.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS - Free Report) by 294.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,220,693 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 911,191 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.63% of GDS worth $48,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in GDS during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GDS during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of GDS during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of GDS during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of GDS by 245.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GDS shares. Wall Street Zen raised GDS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised GDS from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on GDS from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research raised GDS from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $36.00 price target on GDS in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.33.

GDS Price Performance

NASDAQ GDS opened at $32.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $34.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.66. GDS Holdings has a 52-week low of $26.97 and a 52-week high of $48.61. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.41.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $426.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.44 million. GDS had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 15.62%. GDS's revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that GDS Holdings will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judy Qing Ye sold 37,394 shares of GDS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $1,354,036.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Yixin Qian sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 7.99% of the company's stock.

GDS Company Profile

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.

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