VNET Group Sees a Spike in Call Option Trading

On a recent Wednesday, an intriguing development in the options market was observed concerning VNET Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: VNET). There was a noticeable uptick in the trading of call options for the stock, where traders snapped up 4,001 call options. This volume marks a significant surge of about 54% over the stock's average daily option volume of 2,597 calls.

Influence of Institutional Investors on VNET Group

In response to the recent activities, various institutional investors have adjusted their positions in VNET Group. For instance, Jump Financial LLC almost doubled its holdings, increasing them by 101.6%, now amounting to 84,406 shares valued at around $242,000 after purchasing an additional 42,537 shares. AI Squared Management Ltd initiated a new position in the fourth quarter with shares valued at $893,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. also showed confidence in VNET, raising its stake by 14.1%, which translates to holding 1,525,707 shares with a worth of $4,379,000 after adding 188,593 shares. Another significant move came from Pacer Advisors Inc., establishing a new stake valued at approximately $2,021,000 during the same quarter. Additionally, Vanguard Group Inc. marginally increased its ownership by 0.9% in the previous quarter, resulting in a total of 4,704,264 shares valued at $14,724,000 after an additional purchase of 43,347 shares. Collectively, institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.83% of VNET's shares.

Analysts' Perspectives on VNET Group

In a separate update, VNET Group was downgraded from a 'hold' to a 'sell' rating by StockNews.com, as indicated in their research note dated December 19th.

Recent Performance of VNET Group's Stock

The stock of VNET Group commenced trading at $1.55 on a recent Friday, disclosing various financial metrics. Currently, their market cap stands at $230.10 million, with a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.17 and a beta of -0.27. The company's liquidity is highlighted by a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of the same value, alongside a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Moreover, the stock's moving averages over the past 50 and 200 days are $2.45 and $2.86, respectively, with VNET shares touching a 12-month low of $1.39 and a high of $6.66.

The last quarterly earnings report from VNET Group was released on November 15th. They reported an earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.06), which was more positive than the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. Despite the negative net margin of 3.48% and a return on equity of -3.68%, the company reported a revenue of $258.62 million, slightly below the projected $271.25 million. Analysts are predicting that VNET Group will have an EPS of -0.25 for the current financial year.

About VNET Group

VNET Group, Inc is a notable investment holding entity, predominantly providing hosting and related services throughout China. The company's portfolio encompasses a range of services, including but not limited to managed hosting services like colocation and interconnectivity, miscellaneous value-added services, cloud solutions, and VPN services, all contributing to extending customers' private networks via the public internet.

VNET, Options, Trading