Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,656 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $6,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WEX by 19,044.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 35,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,002,000 after acquiring an additional 35,804 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in WEX by 56.1% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 141,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,575,000 after purchasing an additional 50,771 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its holdings in WEX by 131.1% during the third quarter. Burney Co. now owns 21,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,983 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of WEX by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 54,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,255,000 after buying an additional 21,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of WEX in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,545,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.24, for a total value of $72,071.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,350.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.24, for a total value of $72,071.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,350.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 41,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $8,426,935.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,809,590. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,433 shares of company stock worth $14,708,896. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WEX shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of WEX from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on WEX from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on WEX from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of WEX from $205.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.00.

WEX Stock Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $229.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $228.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.82. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.95 and a 1-year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $663.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $656.75 million. WEX had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 31.33%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

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.