Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $1.17 Million in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 206.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in WEX during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP raised its position in WEX by 717.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in WEX by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WEX opened at $181.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $165.51 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. WEX’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup cut shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on WEX from $247.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.73.

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.