Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 942 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WEX in the first quarter worth $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in WEX in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in WEX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of WEX by 233.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of WEX by 456.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $102,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,449,320. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,628 shares in the company, valued at $1,449,320. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of WEX stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,477 shares of company stock valued at $993,307. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Price Performance

WEX opened at $198.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.90. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.95 and a 12-month high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. The company had revenue of $673.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.44 million. Equities analysts predict 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.