Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors purchased 23,406 VNET call options, about 348% above the stock’s typical daily call volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: Four analysts rate VNET a Buy, compared with one Hold and one Sell, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $16.90.
• Shares fell 5.3% to $6.39 after VNET reported a quarterly EPS loss of $0.06, missing estimates, despite revenue of $409 million exceeding expectations; institutional investors own 72.83% of the stock.

VNET Group, Inc. - Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 23,406 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 348% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,230 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on VNET. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $24.79 target price on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America set a $16.30 price objective on VNET Group and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded VNET Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of VNET Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on VNET Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $12.50 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VNET Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.90.

VNET Group Trading Down 5.3%

VNET stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.39. 743,997 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,429,078. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.35, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. VNET Group has a 1 year low of $5.91 and a 1 year high of $14.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.22 and a 200-day moving average of $8.63.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The information technology services provider reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $409.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $401.77 million. VNET Group had a negative net margin of 22.29% and a negative return on equity of 36.25%. Analysts predict that VNET Group will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VNET. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its position in VNET Group by 1,849.6% in the 4th quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 764,056 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,464,000 after purchasing an additional 724,865 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in VNET Group by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,623,594 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $22,012,000 after purchasing an additional 443,656 shares during the period. FACT Capital LP bought a new position in shares of VNET Group during the first quarter worth $4,012,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in VNET Group in the 1st quarter worth $1,809,000. Finally, Regal Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of VNET Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,095,000. Institutional investors own 72.83% of the company's stock.

About VNET Group

VNET Group, Inc NASDAQ: VNET is a leading carrier-neutral internet data center (IDC) services provider in China. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Beijing, the company delivers a full spectrum of infrastructure solutions that support the growing digital economy. Its core offerings include data center colocation, managed hosting, network connectivity, and disaster recovery services designed to meet the performance and reliability requirements of enterprise and internet content customers.

The company's product portfolio spans private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud deployments, enabling clients to scale computing resources on demand.

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