Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 139,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,690 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.34% of WEX worth $24,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in WEX by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,199,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $816,919,000 after purchasing an additional 67,893 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in WEX by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,122,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $607,482,000 after acquiring an additional 179,813 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 48,182 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in WEX by 0.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 735,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,660,000 after buying an additional 4,262 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter valued at about $89,745,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $102,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,628 shares in the company, valued at $1,449,320. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total transaction of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $102,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,449,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,477 shares of company stock valued at $993,307 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WEX shares. William Blair upgraded WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.58.

WEX Stock Performance

WEX opened at $191.02 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.54. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.95 and a 1-year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $673.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.44 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. Equities analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.