Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Boosts Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 672.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 134,099 shares during the period. WEX accounts for about 1.7% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $32,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in WEX during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of WEX by 717.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in WEX by 233.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in WEX during the 1st quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEX opened at $172.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.55. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.97 and a 12-month high of $244.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total transaction of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,214.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,214.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research lowered WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.