Qifu Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:QFIN) Short Interest Up 123.9% in March

Qifu Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:QFIN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,240,000 shares, a growth of 123.9% from the March 15th total of 3,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 7.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Qifu Technology Trading Up 0.4 %

QFIN stock opened at $38.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.97. Qifu Technology has a 12-month low of $17.76 and a 12-month high of $48.94.

Qifu Technology (NASDAQ:QFIN) last posted its earnings results on Sunday, March 16th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $613.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $581.67 million. Qifu Technology had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 31.82%. Equities analysts predict that Qifu Technology will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Qifu Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This is a boost from Qifu Technology’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.60. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. Qifu Technology’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Institutional Trading of Qifu Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QFIN. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new position in Qifu Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $92,150,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Qifu Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,579,000. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in shares of Qifu Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,185,000. Aspex Management HK Ltd raised its stake in Qifu Technology by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 6,371,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,550,000 after buying an additional 648,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Qifu Technology by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,351,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,862,000 after buying an additional 544,666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America increased their price objective on Qifu Technology from $50.66 to $52.70 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th.

About Qifu Technology

Qifu Technology, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates credit-tech platform under the 360 Jietiao brand in the People's Republic of China. It provides credit-driven services that matches borrowers with financial institutions to conduct customer acquisition, initial and credit screening, advanced risk assessment, credit assessment, fund matching, and other post-facilitation services; and platform services, including loan facilitation and post-facilitation services to financial institution partners under intelligence credit engine, referral services, and risk management software-as-a-service.