Sheets Smith Investment Management Makes New $1.61 Million Investment in ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS)

Sheets Smith Investment Management purchased a new position in ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 36,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,000. ExlService comprises approximately 1.4% of Sheets Smith Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ExlService by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,771,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $699,925,000 after acquiring an additional 215,485 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its position in ExlService by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 165,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,362,000 after acquiring an additional 12,462 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in ExlService by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 170,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,764,000 after acquiring an additional 9,217 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in ExlService in the fourth quarter worth about $835,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in ExlService in the fourth quarter worth about $1,722,000. 92.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EXLS. StockNews.com upgraded ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on ExlService from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on ExlService from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ExlService presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at ExlService

In related news, CFO Maurizio Nicolelli sold 13,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 16,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $833,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,110,779. The trade was a 28.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,351 shares of company stock valued at $2,337,284 in the last 90 days. 4.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ExlService Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:EXLS opened at $46.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 3.02. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.16 and a fifty-two week high of $52.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.44. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.10.

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

ExlService 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.