Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) Stock

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $48.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.46% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on EXLS. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of ExlService from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on ExlService from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.38.

ExlService Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXLS opened at $48.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 42.50, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. ExlService has a 1-year low of $28.16 and a 1-year high of $52.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.05 and its 200-day moving average is $43.09.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $481.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $475.68 million. Sell-side analysts predict that ExlService will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ExlService

In other news, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 16,186 shares of the company’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 transaction of $833,579.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,110,779. This represents a 28.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Maurizio Nicolelli sold 13,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $675,822.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 194,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,554,781.60. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,928 shares of company stock worth $1,762,344. Insiders own 4.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $699,925,000 after acquiring an additional 215,485 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,647,937 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of ExlService by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,837,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,693,000 after buying an additional 59,196 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ExlService by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,092,000 after buying an additional 87,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ExlService by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,326,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,083,000 after buying an additional 149,856 shares during the period. 92.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.