Bailard Inc. Takes $231,000 Position in WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE:WNS)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE:WNS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,754 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in WNS by 3.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 157,659 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,694,000 after buying an additional 5,333 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of WNS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WNS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,813,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of WNS in the first quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of WNS by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,070 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. 97.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WNS Stock Performance

NYSE:WNS traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $74.87. 1,038,655 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,139,683. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.93. WNS has a twelve month low of $42.62 and a twelve month high of $75.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.12 and a 200 day moving average of $60.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

WNS (NYSE:WNS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.05. WNS had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 23.26%. The company had revenue of $339.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $323.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that WNS will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WNS. William Blair lowered shares of WNS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Baird R W downgraded shares of WNS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $76.50 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of WNS in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barrington Research downgraded shares of WNS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WNS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WNS has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.13.

About WNS

WNS (Holdings) Limited, a business process management (BPM) company, provides data, voice, analytical, and business transformation services worldwide. The company operates through TSLU, MRHP, HCLS, and BFSI segments. It engages in diversified business, including manufacturing, retail, consumer packaged goods, media and entertainment, and telecommunication; travel and leisure, utilities, shipping, and logistics; healthcare and life sciences; banking, financial services, and insurance; and Hi-tech and professional services, as well as procurement.