Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stake in ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 822 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in ExlService were worth $2,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXLS. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in ExlService during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in ExlService during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in ExlService by 2,827.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,131 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in ExlService during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in ExlService during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Maurizio Nicolelli sold 13,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $9,554,781.60. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ajay Ayyappan sold 16,186 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $833,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,110,779. This trade represents a 28.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,351 shares of company stock valued at $2,337,284 over the last quarter. 4.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ExlService Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of EXLS opened at $46.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 3.02. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.16 and a 1 year high of $52.43.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last issued 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 firm 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 forecast that ExlService Holdings, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.