Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) Stock

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) had its price target lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on EXLS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on ExlService from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.38.

ExlService Stock Performance

EXLS stock opened at $48.45 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. ExlService has a 12-month low of $28.16 and a 12-month high of $52.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.19.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $481.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $475.68 million. ExlService had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 23.23%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ExlService will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 4,989 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.70, for a total value of $252,942.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,077,990.20. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Maurizio Nicolelli sold 13,753 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $675,822.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 194,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,554,781.60. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,928 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,344 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of ExlService by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in ExlService by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 31,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in ExlService by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 39,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in ExlService by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in ExlService by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 6,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.92% of the company’s stock.

ExlService Company Profile

ExlService Holdings, Inc operates as a data analytics, and digital operations and solutions company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Insurance, Healthcare, Analytics, and Emerging Business segments. It also provides digital operations and solutions and analytics-driven services, such as claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business acquisition, policy servicing, premium audit, surveys, billing and collection, commercial and residential survey, and customer service using digital technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced automation; digital customer acquisition services using a software-as-a-service delivery model through LifePRO and LISS platforms; subrogation services; and Subrosource software platform, an end-to-end subrogation platform.