Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 172,402 Shares of ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) by 28.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 436,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 172,402 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of ExlService worth $16,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ExlService by 164.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 924 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of ExlService in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of ExlService by 269.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ExlService by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in ExlService by 29.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. 92.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on EXLS shares. StockNews.com upgraded ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of ExlService from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of ExlService from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on ExlService from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Rohit Kapoor sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.87, for a total value of $4,687,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 689,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,323,661.15. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Anita Mahon sold 25,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.50, for a total value of $911,285.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,444,423.50. The trade was a 27.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 483,483 shares of company stock worth $20,737,537 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.16% of the company’s stock.

ExlService Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXLS opened at $44.69 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.99. 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 $27.27 and a 1 year high of $47.32.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $472.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $460.73 million. ExlService had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 23.23%. ExlService’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that ExlService Holdings, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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.