WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in WEX were worth $2,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its position in WEX by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,305,000 after purchasing an additional 134,099 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 34.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,772,000 after buying an additional 126,663 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of WEX by 328.6% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after buying an additional 97,807 shares during the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in WEX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,950,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 149,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,321,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Up 0.2 %

WEX opened at $178.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WEX Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $244.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.74 and a 200-day moving average of $188.39.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. WEX’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, William Blair upgraded WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.91.

WEX Profile

WEX Inc operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Mobility segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services; and provides account activation and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; account management; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions; and ancillary services and offerings.