WEX (NYSE:WEX) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $148.29, but opened at $160.51. WEX shares last traded at $156.59, with a volume of 187,633 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEX has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America cut shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.73.

WEX Trading Up 6.3 %

The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.05.

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, equities analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEX by 83.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 418 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in WEX by 20,873.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,138,000 after purchasing an additional 38,615 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in WEX by 14.0% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,837 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in WEX by 2.9% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of WEX by 10.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.