WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Purchased by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in WEX by 552.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 261 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in WEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in WEX by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in WEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in WEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WEX. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of WEX from $247.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.73.

Insider Activity at WEX

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

WEX Stock Down 0.9 %

WEX stock opened at $181.33 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.51 and a 1 year high of $244.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.21. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $688.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. WEX’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.