Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $3.03 Million Stake in WEX Inc. $WEX

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 191.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,661 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of WEX worth $3,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEX. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of WEX by 161.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of WEX by 78.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEX news, CEO Melissa D. Smith acquired 3,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the chief executive officer owned 101,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,616,061.74. This represents a 3.82% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.69, for a total value of $331,533.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,478.55. The trade was a 20.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,206 shares of company stock worth $665,265. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WEX shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on WEX in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on WEX from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on WEX in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on WEX from $138.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on WEX from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.82.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX stock opened at $173.1130 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. WEX Inc. has a 12 month low of $110.45 and a 12 month high of $217.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.43.

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.