WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Purchased by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 725,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,377 shares during the period. WEX comprises approximately 1.7% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.82% of WEX worth $127,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in WEX by 0.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,163,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,251,000 after purchasing an additional 25,365 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,237,000 after buying an additional 125,262 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of WEX by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,240,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $260,265,000 after buying an additional 3,882 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in WEX by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 374,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,633,000 after buying an additional 30,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in WEX by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of WEX stock opened at $156.48 on Tuesday. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.03 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.83 and a 200-day moving average of $182.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.02.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 32.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $195.73.

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.