Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 1,596 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,596 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in WEX during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,335,000. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 108,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,245,000 after acquiring an additional 6,992 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $7,002,000 after acquiring an additional 35,804 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 54,693 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,544,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEX opened at $215.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.95 and a 1-year high of $244.04. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.50.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly 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). WEX had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 31.33%. The firm had revenue of $663.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $656.75 million. Research analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 13,000 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.33, for a total transaction of $2,890,290.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,998 shares in the company, valued at $18,230,615.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 13,000 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.33, for a total transaction of $2,890,290.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,998 shares in the company, valued at $18,230,615.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 4,531 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.03, for a total transaction of $987,893.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,463.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,326 shares of company stock worth $6,281,961 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of WEX from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of WEX from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of WEX from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.