WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 333 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $1,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WEX. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in WEX by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 896.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 131.4% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEX during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEX during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Price Performance

WEX opened at $234.00 on Wednesday. WEX Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.95 and a twelve month high of $244.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.94.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced 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 business had revenue of $663.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $656.75 million. WEX had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 31.33%. Equities research analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 4,531 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.03, for a total value of $987,893.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,653 shares in the company, valued at $796,463.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Sara Trickett sold 887 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.61, for a total value of $199,229.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 4,531 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.03, for a total transaction of $987,893.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,463.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,326 shares of company stock worth $6,281,961. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEX. TheStreet raised shares of WEX from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of WEX from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of WEX from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.00.

WEX Company 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.