Short Interest in ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) Increases By 25.2%

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 1,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.32, for a total value of $90,116.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,443.52. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Maurizio Nicolelli sold 13,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $675,822.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 194,440 shares in the company, valued at $9,554,781.60. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,351 shares of company stock worth $2,337,284 in the last three months. 4.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ExlService

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXLS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of 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 upped their target price on ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ExlService from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.38.

ExlService Stock Performance

Shares of EXLS traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,048,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 987,140. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.25, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. ExlService has a 52-week low of $28.16 and a 52-week high of $52.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.01. The company has a quick ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $481.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $475.68 million. ExlService had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 10.61%. On average, analysts expect that ExlService will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.