Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 3,363 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,363 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEX. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 672.7% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,305,000 after buying an additional 134,099 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 34.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,772,000 after purchasing an additional 126,663 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 328.6% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares in the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of WEX during the second quarter valued at $13,950,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 61.3% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 149,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,321,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Wolfe Research cut WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WEX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

WEX Price Performance

WEX opened at $183.85 on Thursday. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $165.51 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $193.23 and a 200 day moving average of $186.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 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.