Institutional investors have a lot riding on Qifu Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:QFIN) with 65% ownership

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Qifu Technology implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 50% of the business is held by the top 10 shareholders
• 14% of Qifu Technology is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Qifu Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:QFIN), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 65% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Last week’s 5.5% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. The one-year return on investment is currently 22% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Qifu Technology.

See our latest analysis for Qifu Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qifu Technology?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Qifu Technology. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Qifu Technology's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Our data indicates that hedge funds own 5.6% of Qifu Technology. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. The company's largest shareholder is Hongyi Zhou, with ownership of 14%. With 5.6% and 4.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Aspex Management (HK) Limited and Norges Bank Investment Management are the second and third largest shareholders.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Qifu Technology

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Qifu Technology, Inc.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful US$444m stake in this US$3.2b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 16% stake in Qifu Technology. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Qifu Technology that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.