Qifu Technology (NASDAQ:QFIN) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Qifu Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:QFIN) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $50.66 to $52.70. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 2,072,167 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 56% from the previous session’s volume of 1,331,717 shares.The stock last traded at $46.05 and had previously closed at $44.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qifu Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. bought a new position in Qifu Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,150,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Qifu Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,579,000. Candriam S.C.A. bought a new position in shares of Qifu Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,185,000. Aspex Management HK Ltd grew its position in shares of Qifu Technology by 11.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Qifu Technology by 67.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 74.81% of the company’s stock.

Qifu Technology Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.59.

Qifu Technology (NASDAQ:QFIN) last issued its earnings results on Sunday, March 16th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Qifu Technology had a net margin of 31.82% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company had revenue of $613.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $581.67 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Qifu Technology, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Qifu Technology Increases Dividend

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

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.