Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 19,000 Shares of WNS (Holdings) Limited $WNS

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. reduced its stake in WNS (Holdings) Limited by 27.9%, now holding 49,000 shares worth approximately $3.01 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Johnson Financial Group and NBC Securities, have recently purchased new stakes in WNS, contributing to 97.36% of the stock being owned by institutional investors.
• WNS has received several rating downgrades from analysts, with a current consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target averaging around $68.13.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE:WNS - Free Report) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 19,000 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. owned 0.11% of WNS worth $3,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WNS. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in WNS by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 25,575 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,212,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in WNS by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,770 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in WNS by 11.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,731 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. grew its position in WNS by 12.8% during the first quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 7,442 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in WNS by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,424,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. 97.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on WNS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on WNS in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $76.50 target price for the company. Barrington Research cut WNS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. William Blair cut WNS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut WNS from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Baird R W cut WNS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.13.

WNS Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WNS traded up $0.0950 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.3950. The company had a trading volume of 244,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,105,380. WNS has a one year low of $42.62 and a one year high of $75.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.90.

WNS (NYSE:WNS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.05. WNS had a return on equity of 22.90% and a net margin of 12.11%.The company had revenue of $339.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. WNS's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that WNS will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

WNS Company Profile

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.