VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

VNET Group, Inc. – Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.81, but opened at $8.14. VNET Group shares last traded at $8.5160, with a volume of 1,554,881 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VNET shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of VNET Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of VNET Group in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of VNET Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.79 target price on shares of VNET Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of VNET Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.03.

VNET Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of -5.78 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.71.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The information technology services provider reported ($1.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($1.17). The company had revenue of $390.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.47 million. VNET Group had a negative return on equity of 31.59% and a negative net margin of 22.01%. Research analysts anticipate that VNET Group, Inc. – Unsponsored ADR will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VNET Group

In other news, Director Sean Shao sold 60,000 shares of VNET Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.71, for a total value of $102,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 983,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,682,332.20. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VNET Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triata Capital Ltd grew its position in VNET Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 12,498,810 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $105,740,000 after purchasing an additional 550,841 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VNET Group in the fourth quarter valued at $65,650,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,386 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $53,174,000 after purchasing an additional 796,266 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of VNET Group by 73.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,283,660 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $44,250,000 after buying an additional 1,809,987 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of VNET Group by 674.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,343,088 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $23,067,000 after buying an additional 2,911,604 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.