Blair William & Co. IL Reduces Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,275 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.27% of WEX worth $19,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 456.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 233.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Price Performance

WEX opened at $202.45 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.54. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.95 and a 12-month high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $673.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.44 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. Research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,409,214.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,424,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,985 shares of company stock valued at $1,094,907. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WEX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, William Blair upgraded 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.58.

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.