WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $179.8182.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of WEX from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on WEX from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEX news, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 3,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,441.16. This trade represents a 30.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Carlos Carriedo sold 875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $150,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,753.60. The trade was a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,206 shares of company stock worth $665,265 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners bought a new position in WEX in the 2nd quarter worth $187,102,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 1.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,085,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $159,494,000 after acquiring an additional 17,691 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of WEX by 2.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 895,406 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,597,000 after purchasing an additional 22,672 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its stake in WEX by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 826,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $129,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in WEX by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 809,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $118,931,000 after purchasing an additional 75,003 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Down 0.9%

WEX stock opened at $171.2570 on Tuesday. WEX has a one year low of $110.45 and a one year high of $217.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $159.70 and a 200 day moving average of $147.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28.

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.