SG Americas Securities LLC Buys Shares of 1,776 WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in WEX by 105.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,046,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,812,000 after buying an additional 1,052,087 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 872,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,008,000 after acquiring an additional 8,780 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of WEX by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 823,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $144,364,000 after acquiring an additional 3,190 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of WEX by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 725,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $127,255,000 after acquiring an additional 5,377 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in WEX by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 602,693 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,653,000 after acquiring an additional 18,331 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WEX. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of WEX from $172.00 to $138.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on WEX in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on WEX from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.90.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $149.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $134.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.94. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.45 and a 1-year high of $217.47.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $636.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.42 million. WEX had a return on equity of 37.90% and a net margin of 12.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In related news, CEO Melissa D. Smith purchased 3,721 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $134.57 per share, with a total value of $500,734.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,616,061.74. This trade represents a 3.82% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.08, for a total value of $183,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,441.16. This represents a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.