Virtus Advisers LLC Makes New $647,000 Investment in Qfin Holdings Inc. - Sponsored ADR $QFIN

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC bought 14,400 shares of Qfin Holdings Inc., worth approximately $647,000, during the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Qfin recently announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.76, which is an increase from the previous dividend of $0.70, resulting in a yield of 440.0%.
• Despite missing analysts' earnings expectations, Qfin reported a net margin of 38.66% and a return on equity of 30.74% for the latest quarter.

Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qfin Holdings Inc. - Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:QFIN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Qfin by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 125,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,657,000 after purchasing an additional 7,197 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Qfin by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 277,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,469,000 after purchasing an additional 8,515 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Qfin during the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Qfin during the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its holdings in Qfin by 583.8% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 484,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,751,000 after purchasing an additional 413,493 shares in the last quarter. 74.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on QFIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Qfin in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Qfin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $51.73.

Qfin Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QFIN traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,405,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,750,891. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.39. Qfin Holdings Inc. - Sponsored ADR has a 52 week low of $24.30 and a 52 week high of $48.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Qfin (NASDAQ:QFIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $728.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. Qfin had a net margin of 38.66% and a return on equity of 30.74%. On average, research analysts expect that Qfin Holdings Inc. - Sponsored ADR will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qfin Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a yield of 440.0%. This is a boost from Qfin's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.70. Qfin's payout ratio is 21.19%.

About Qfin

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.