Premier Fund Managers Ltd Raises Stock Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 18.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,000 shares during the period. WEX accounts for 2.2% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in WEX were worth $62,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of WEX by 124.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,572,000 after purchasing an additional 22,638 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in WEX by 5.6% in the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,561,000 after buying an additional 48,182 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in WEX in the second quarter worth about $6,253,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEX by 256.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 8,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 215.4% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 2,972 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEX Price Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $178.38 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.39. The firm has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.57. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.51 and a 1-year high of $244.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. WEX’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEX. Wolfe Research cut shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on 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 cut their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

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.