Portolan Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Portolan Capital Management LLC lifted its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 108.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,007 shares during the quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $5,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in WEX by 124.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,572,000 after purchasing an additional 22,638 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its stake in WEX by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,561,000 after buying an additional 48,182 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in WEX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,253,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in WEX in the second quarter valued at about $1,227,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in WEX by 856.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 11,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $186.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.01. WEX Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.51 and a 12 month high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. Analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEX shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Bank of America upped 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, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the firm’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 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 approximately $1,424,000. This trade represents a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is 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.