Zions Bancorporation N.A. Increases Stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,995 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in WEX were worth $2,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in WEX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of WEX by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in WEX by 552.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 261 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in WEX in the third quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in WEX by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.73.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $153.93 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $146.03 and a one year high of $244.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.94.

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

About WEX

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.