ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,575 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.11% of ExlService worth $7,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in ExlService in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ExlService in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of ExlService during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in ExlService in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in ExlService by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 92.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 4,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.70, for a total transaction of $252,942.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,986 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,990.20. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anita Mahon sold 10,558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.92, for a total value of $484,823.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,336,822.56. This trade represents a 10.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,598 shares of company stock worth $1,661,461. 4.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXLS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on ExlService from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ExlService from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ExlService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.86.

ExlService Price Performance

EXLS opened at $44.98 on Wednesday. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.59 and a 52-week high of $52.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.91. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. 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 announced 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 analysts’ expectations of $475.68 million. On average, analysts expect that ExlService Holdings, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.