Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $19.97 Million Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 44,366 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of WEX worth $19,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in WEX by 0.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in WEX by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in WEX by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in WEX by 0.4% in the second quarter. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC now owns 26,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,729,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of WEX by 8.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total transaction of $299,937.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEX Trading Down 0.6 %

WEX opened at $180.19 on Thursday. WEX Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.51 and a twelve month high of $244.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $197.61 and a 200-day moving average of $189.49. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research lowered WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEX presently 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.