Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 2,818 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 32.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,818 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in WEX were worth $922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in WEX by 105.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,046,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,087 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in WEX by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 872,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,008,000 after purchasing an additional 8,780 shares during the period. Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its position in WEX by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 823,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $144,364,000 after purchasing an additional 3,190 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in WEX by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 602,693 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,653,000 after purchasing an additional 18,331 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in WEX by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 481,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $84,415,000 after purchasing an additional 23,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEX news, CEO Melissa D. Smith bought 3,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $134.57 per share, with a total value of $500,734.97. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 101,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,616,061.74. The trade was a 3.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.08, for a total transaction of $183,512.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,177 shares in the company, valued at $416,441.16. The trade was a 30.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on WEX in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on WEX from $172.00 to $138.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on WEX from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on WEX from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEX has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.90.

WEX Price Performance

WEX stock opened at $151.60 on Tuesday. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.45 and a 52 week high of $217.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.23.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.11. WEX had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 37.90%. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $631.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share 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.