Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Takes $35,000 Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 169 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEX. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $32,305,000 after purchasing an additional 134,099 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in WEX by 34.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,772,000 after buying an additional 126,663 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in WEX by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,237,000 after buying an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in 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 worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in WEX by 82.2% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 79,252 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value of $33,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.64.

WEX Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE WEX opened at $169.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.57. WEX Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.51 and a 12 month high of $244.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $185.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.