Inspire Investing LLC Grows Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 27.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEX by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in WEX by 3.3% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEX by 2.1% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of WEX by 8.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the first quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair upgraded shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.58.

WEX Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WEX stock opened at $207.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.95 and a 12-month high of $244.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $185.29 and its 200 day moving average is $199.00.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. The firm had revenue of $673.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.44 million. Research analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melanie J. Tinto sold 1,564 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.04, for a total transaction of $289,402.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,461 shares in the company, valued at $1,565,623.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,985 shares of company stock worth $1,094,907 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.