Qfin (NASDAQ:QFIN) Cut to “Sell” at Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Qfin (NASDAQ:QFIN) from a buy rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $8.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Qfin from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $15.33 price target on shares of Qfin in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $13.00 price target on shares of Qfin in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.40 price objective on shares of Qfin in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Qfin from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $13.50 to $9.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.29.

Qfin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QFIN opened at $8.80 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.63. Qfin has a 1-year low of $8.72 and a 1-year high of $32.69.

Qfin (NASDAQ:QFIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Qfin had a net margin of 22.23% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The company had revenue of $524.96 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Qfin will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qfin Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a yield of 1,032.0%. Qfin’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qfin

In other news, Director Xiaohuan Chen purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.41 per share, with a total value of $57,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $273,790. This represents a 26.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qfin

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Qfin during the first quarter valued at $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Qfin by 6,796.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Qfin by 415.9% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Qfin by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Qfin by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.81% of the company’s stock.

Qfin Company Profile

360 DigiTech, Inc (NASDAQ: QFIN) is a China‐based fintech company that specializes in providing digital lending solutions to underserved consumer and small business markets. Leveraging proprietary credit assessment technologies and big data analytics, the company connects borrowers with a network of financial institutions and investors through its online platform. Its services encompass unsecured consumer loans, installment credit products, and working capital financing for micro and small enterprises.

The company’s flagship platform offers an end‐to‐end digital lending experience, from application and credit evaluation to disbursement and repayment.