5 Investors Betting Big on Exela Technologies (XELA) Stock

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  • Exela Technologies (XELA) is soaring higher following an acquisition offer.
  • The undisclosed acquirer made an offer for a business unit of Exela that generates $200 million in revenue.
  • XELA stock is down over 75% year-to-date (YTD).
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Exela Technologies (NASDAQ:XELA) has been in full focus since receiving an acquisition offer for one of its business units last week. The company specializes in transaction processing and other business solutions. Now, shares of XELA stock are up more than 60% in the past five trading days.

The preliminary, non-binding offer was for an unspecified business unit of Exela that generates $200 million in revenue. In addition to this proposal, Exela is in discussions with several other parties concerning acquisitions. In June, the company announced its intent to sell several of its standalone assets. Exela initiated this plan in order to minimize debt, lower interest expenses and maximize shareholder value.

Exela says that its board will “carefully review” the offer and consult with financial and legal parties. Meanwhile, the company and board will evaluate other strategic alternatives as well.

Today, XELA stock is soaring higher by more than 15%. However, zooming out further presents a different story; XELA is also down more than 75% year-to-date (YTD) and 99% for the past five years. Still, that is ultimately a positive for any acquirer in search of a discount.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at who is betting big on Exela Technologies.

5 Investors Betting Big on XELA Stock

Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large funds provide liquidity and support for stocks. During the first quarter, 54 funds reported owning XELA stock. That marks a decrease of 11 funds from the prior quarter. However, the total shares owned by 13F filers also increased to 84.83 million during the quarter — up from 36.55 million — spearheaded by a massive share purchase from the company’s top shareholder.

That said, institutional investors also exited their put positions en masse during the quarter. As of Q1, the institutional put/call ratio sits at 0.7, down 75% from 2.84 in Q4.

With that in mind, here are the top five XELA stock shareholders:

  1. B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY): 47.43 million shares. B. Riley purchased 38.46 million shares during Q1.
  2. Hovs: 11.85 million shares. Hovs purchased its entire stake during Q1.
  3. Vanguard: 10.25 million shares. Vanguard purchased 3.41 million shares in Q1.
  4. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 4.84 million shares. BlackRock purchased 2.64 million shares during Q1.
  5. Shay Capital: 3.5 million shares. Shay purchased 2.04 million shares during Q1.

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On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/07/5-investors-betting-big-on-exela-technologies-xela-stock/.

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