VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) Stock Price Down 5.5% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• VNET Group shares fell 5.5% to about $6.54 in midday trading, with volume down sharply versus the average session.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive: the stock has an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $16.90, despite recent sell-rating downgrades.
• The company missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting a loss of $0.06 per share versus the anticipated $0.02 loss. VNET also posted negative profitability metrics, including a 22.29% net margin and 36.25% negative return on equity.

VNET Group, Inc. - Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $6.55 and last traded at $6.5380. 538,425 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 6,248,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VNET. Weiss Ratings cut shares of VNET Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of VNET Group in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $12.50 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut VNET Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.90.

VNET Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.69 and a beta of 0.27. The firm's 50-day moving average is $6.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.35, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

Institutional Trading of VNET Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VNET. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 37,602 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in VNET Group by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,495 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in VNET Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 37,199 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares during the last quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in VNET Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 183,222 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of VNET Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.83% of the company's stock.

VNET Group Company Profile

VNET Group, Inc NASDAQ: VNET, formerly known as 21Vianet Group, is a China-based provider of data center and information technology infrastructure services. The company operates carrier-neutral data centers that support enterprise customers, cloud service providers, internet companies, financial institutions and other organizations requiring secure, reliable computing and network capacity.

Its services include data center hosting and colocation, managed network services, cloud computing infrastructure, internet connectivity, content delivery and related information technology solutions.

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.