WEX Inc. $WEX Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Reduces Position

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,719 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in WEX were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of WEX during the 2nd quarter worth $4,982,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in WEX in the 2nd quarter worth about $845,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in WEX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,795,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in WEX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,086,000. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in WEX during the second quarter valued at about $1,780,000. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Joel Alan Dearborn, Jr. sold 3,343 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 17,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,200. This trade represents a 16.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 28,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.09, for a total value of $5,343,239.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,146.25. The trade was a 18.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,325 shares of company stock worth $7,067,912. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WEX from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $209.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of WEX from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WEX from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.10.

WEX Stock Performance

WEX stock opened at $182.58 on Friday. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.29 and a 1-year high of $203.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.15.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $6.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $780.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $749.74 million. WEX had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 45.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.59 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEX Profile

WEX Inc (NYSE:WEX) is a financial technology company that provides payment-processing and business-management solutions. Its products are designed to help organizations manage corporate spending, employee benefits and mobility-related expenses through specialized payment accounts, software and data tools.

WEX’s mobility business serves commercial vehicle fleets with fuel cards, fleet-payment programs, expense controls, telematics integrations and related solutions. The company also supports emerging mobility needs, including electric-vehicle charging payments.