VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded VNET Group from sell to hold, aligning with a broader analyst view that now shows a consensus hold rating and an average price target of $18.08.
• VNET’s latest earnings showed mixed results: it reported breakeven EPS versus the expected $0.04 loss, while revenue of $384.07 million beat estimates. Analysts still expect the company to post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Stock and ownership activity were notable, with shares opening at $8.90 and institutional investors owning 72.83% of the stock. Insider director David Lifeng Chen also sold 83,544 shares, trimming his position by 20%.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on VNET. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of VNET Group in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $23.55 target price on shares of VNET Group in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating on shares of VNET Group in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VNET Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.08.

VNET Group Stock Performance

Shares of VNET stock opened at $8.90 on Friday. VNET Group has a 12 month low of $5.14 and a 12 month high of $14.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.69 and a beta of 0.19. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.71.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The information technology services provider reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $384.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.64 million. VNET Group had a negative net margin of 2.48% and a positive return on equity of 1.36%. On average, research analysts anticipate that VNET Group will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VNET Group news, Director David Lifeng Chen sold 83,544 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.51, for a total value of $126,151.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 334,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,587.64. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 12.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 16.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,470,654 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $12,330,000 after acquiring an additional 209,694 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 26.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,495 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 41.8% in the first quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 315,553 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,647,000 after acquiring an additional 93,071 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 118,897 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 4,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 37.9% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 268,672 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 73,773 shares in the last quarter. 72.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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