UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 26,395 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,395 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.44% of WEX worth $36,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 5.6% in 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 bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter worth $6,253,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in WEX during the second quarter valued at $1,227,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in WEX by 856.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 11,899 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEX Stock Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $186.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 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 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during 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 company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEX has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report 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. Robert W. Baird cut 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of WEX stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About WEX

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.