WEX Inc. $WEX Stake Lessened by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP trimmed its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 97.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 54,588 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in WEX were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEX. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in WEX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of WEX by 97.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 267 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other WEX news, insider Karen B. Stroup sold 2,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.93, for a total value of $391,695.29. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,662,614.76. This represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Deshaies sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.56, for a total transaction of $347,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 17,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,505.28. This trade represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 275,722 shares of company stock valued at $50,329,622 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WEX stock opened at $181.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.93. WEX Inc. has a one year low of $125.29 and a one year high of $203.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $183.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.71.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WEX shares. Evercore raised shares of WEX to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of WEX from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of WEX from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEX presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.10.

WEX Profile

WEX Inc. is a financial technology company that provides payment processing and business management solutions. Founded in 1983 as Wright Express, the company adopted the WEX name in 2012 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine. WEX’s fleet business offers payment cards and related services for commercial and government fleets, including tools to manage fuel purchases, vehicle expenses and fleet operations. Its travel and corporate payments business provides solutions such as virtual cards and payment services for travel companies and other businesses.