ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) Short Interest Up 25.2% in March

ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,020,000 shares, a growth of 25.2% from the February 28th total of 4,010,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on ExlService from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of ExlService from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.38.

ExlService Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of EXLS traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,048,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 987,140. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 3.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.66 and its 200 day moving average is $45.01. ExlService has a 52-week low of $28.16 and a 52-week high of $52.43. The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 16,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $833,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,986 shares in the company, valued at $2,110,779. This represents a 28.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Anita Mahon sold 10,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.92, for a total transaction of $484,823.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,336,822.56. This represents a 10.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,351 shares of company stock worth $2,337,284. Company insiders own 4.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ExlService

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EXLS. FMR LLC raised its holdings in ExlService by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,364,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,588,000 after buying an additional 2,647,937 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ExlService during the fourth quarter valued at about $106,452,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of ExlService by 313.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,194,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $97,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664,400 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ExlService in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,852,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new position in shares of ExlService during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.92% of the company’s stock.

About ExlService

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.