Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in WEX were worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 856.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after purchasing an additional 11,899 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEX during the 1st quarter worth about $327,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 169,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,197,000 after acquiring an additional 7,733 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in WEX by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,084,000 after buying an additional 8,466 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of WEX stock opened at $189.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.57. 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 price of $195.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.53.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. WEX’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,000. The trade was a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Company 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.