WEX (NYSE:WEX) Stock Price Down 7%

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)’s stock price traded down 7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $212.00 and last traded at $217.07. 202,257 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 296,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on WEX from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays raised their target price on WEX from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on WEX from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on WEX from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on WEX from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.00.

WEX Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.59.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.15). WEX had a return on equity of 30.92% and a net margin of 10.21%. The business had revenue of $663.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $656.75 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.24, for a total value of $72,071.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,350.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sara Trickett sold 887 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.61, for a total transaction of $199,229.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 309 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.24, for a total transaction of $72,071.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,350.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,281,961 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in WEX by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in WEX by 74.7% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in WEX by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its position in WEX by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 27,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of WEX by 0.7% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,294,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

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.