GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded GDS from "hold" to "sell" on Saturday, even as the firm faces mixed analyst coverage — MarketBeat shows a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $49.90 and individual targets as high as $64.00.
• GDS reported a quarterly loss of ($0.35) on $417.6 million in revenue and is forecast to post -0.89 EPS for the fiscal year, while the company carries a market capitalization of $8.69 billion and a high trailing P/E (~86).
• Several large institutions (including Sachem Head, Canada Pension Plan, Bamco, Triata and Carrhae) materially increased positions in recent quarters, with institutional investors owning about 33.7% of the stock.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GDS. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of GDS in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of GDS in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of GDS in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of GDS from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GDS presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $49.90.

GDS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GDS opened at $44.70 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $42.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.96 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.51. GDS has a 1 year low of $20.61 and a 1 year high of $48.61.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $417.60 million during the quarter. GDS had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 8.72%. As a group, research analysts predict that GDS will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of GDS

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its position in GDS by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 9,300,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,570,000 after buying an additional 2,885,000 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in GDS by 77.7% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,004,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,115,000 after buying an additional 3,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in GDS by 35.0% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,258,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $164,810,000 after buying an additional 1,104,756 shares in the last quarter. Triata Capital Ltd boosted its position in GDS by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 2,974,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,803,000 after buying an additional 566,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP boosted its position in GDS by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 2,167,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,635,000 after buying an additional 518,921 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.