Short Interest in TaskUs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASK) Rises By 18.9%

TaskUs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASK) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, an increase of 18.9% from the February 13th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 348,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days. Currently, 10.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on TASK shares. Bank of America raised TaskUs from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of TaskUs from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of TaskUs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TaskUs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

Insider Activity at TaskUs

In other TaskUs news, insider Jarrod Johnson sold 15,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.25, for a total transaction of $204,845.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 29.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TASK. Seldon Capital LP purchased a new stake in TaskUs during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,393,000. Think Investments LP raised its holdings in TaskUs by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Think Investments LP now owns 2,881,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after buying an additional 364,608 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in TaskUs by 217.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 350,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,941,000 after buying an additional 240,093 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in TaskUs by 47.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 263,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,407,000 after buying an additional 84,988 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in TaskUs during the third quarter valued at $1,006,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.64% of the company’s stock.

TaskUs Price Performance

Shares of TASK traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.68. 25,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,512. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a current ratio of 3.02. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 2.24. TaskUs has a 52-week low of $10.56 and a 52-week high of $19.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.50.

TaskUs (NASDAQ:TASK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.12). TaskUs had a net margin of 5.58% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The business had revenue of $274.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.65 million. On average, equities analysts predict that TaskUs will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

About TaskUs

TaskUs, Inc provides digital outsourcing services for companies in Philippines, the United States, India, and internationally. It offers digital customer experience that consists of omni-channel customer care services primarily delivered through non-voice digital channels; and other solutions, including experience and customer care services for new product or market launches, and customer acquisition solutions.