ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EXLS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on ExlService from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on ExlService from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.86.

ExlService Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXLS traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $44.89. 1,538,613 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 981,496. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. ExlService has a 1 year low of $28.59 and a 1 year high of $52.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.65. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ExlService will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ExlService

In related news, EVP Anita Mahon sold 10,558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.92, for a total transaction of $484,823.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,336,822.56. This trade represents a 10.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value 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 $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,351 shares of company stock worth $2,337,284. Insiders own 4.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXLS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $699,925,000 after buying an additional 215,485 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of ExlService by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,364,312 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $415,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647,937 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ExlService by 3.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 149,856 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of ExlService by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,746,690 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $129,671,000 after purchasing an additional 552,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in ExlService in the 4th quarter worth about $106,452,000. 92.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.