Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) Short Interest Down 9.9% in December

Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the November 30th total of 4,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,920,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FUTU. Citigroup downgraded Futu from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Futu from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Futu from $80.20 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Futu

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Futu by 135.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 5,472 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Futu by 241.1% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after buying an additional 16,855 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Futu by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 4,387 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Futu by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 545,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,475,000 after buying an additional 17,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Futu during the third quarter worth approximately $203,000.

Futu Price Performance

FUTU stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,467,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,332,589. Futu has a 52 week low of $43.61 and a 52 week high of $130.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.77.

Futu Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

About Futu

Futu Holdings Limited provides digitalized securities brokerage and wealth management product distribution service in Hong Kong and internationally. It offers online financial services, including securities and derivative trades brokerage, margin financing and fund distribution services through its Futubull and Moomoo digital platforms.