Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 185,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,953 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in ExlService were worth $8,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXLS. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in ExlService in the fourth quarter valued at $8,682,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ExlService by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 422,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,755,000 after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its stake in ExlService by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 331,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,697,000 after buying an additional 9,859 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in ExlService by 23.2% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 10,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in ExlService by 62.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 446,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,040,000 after buying an additional 171,912 shares during the last quarter. 92.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 16,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,110,779. This represents a 28.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Maurizio Nicolelli sold 13,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 194,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,554,781.60. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 47,351 shares of company stock worth $2,337,284. 4.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of ExlService from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of ExlService from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.86.

ExlService Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of ExlService stock opened at $44.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.59 and a 52-week high of $52.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.40. 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 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 business had revenue of $481.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $475.68 million. ExlService had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 10.61%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ExlService Holdings, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current 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.