WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Sold by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lessened its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in WEX were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in WEX by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,199,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $816,919,000 after purchasing an additional 67,893 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in WEX by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,122,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $607,482,000 after acquiring an additional 179,813 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in WEX by 5.6% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,561,000 after buying an additional 48,182 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 735,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,660,000 after purchasing an additional 4,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,745,000. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WEX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.58.

WEX Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $198.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $182.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $199.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.54. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.95 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $673.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.44 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. Analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,214.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $97,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,470,240. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,477 shares of company stock worth $993,307. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Company 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.