GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Trading 9.2% Higher - Here's What Happened

GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 9.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $33.39 and last traded at $33.67. Approximately 1,429,152 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 2,211,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GDS shares. Wall Street Zen raised GDS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of GDS in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of GDS in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised GDS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of GDS in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GDS presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.48.

GDS Stock Up 9.5%

The company's fifty day moving average is $27.06 and its 200-day moving average is $27.18. The company has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.70. GDS had a net margin of 39.90% and a return on equity of 0.78%. The company had revenue of $375.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.96) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that GDS Holdings will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GDS

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in GDS by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 6,673,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,556,000 after buying an additional 632,671 shares in the last quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd grew its holdings in GDS by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 4,926,727 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,059,000 after buying an additional 922,709 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in GDS by 509.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,323,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,206,000 after buying an additional 1,942,341 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in GDS by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,845,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,852,000 after buying an additional 1,221,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triata Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in GDS during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,472,000. 33.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About GDS

GDS Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops and operates data centers in the People's Republic of China. The company provides colocation services comprising critical facilities space, customer-available power, racks, and cooling; managed hosting services, including business continuity and disaster recovery, network management, data storage, system security, operating system, database, and server middleware services; managed cloud services; and consulting services.