WEX (NYSE:WEX) Stock Rating Upgraded by William Blair

WEX (NYSE:WEX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at William Blair to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on WEX from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on WEX from $246.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of WEX from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.08.

WEX Trading Up 4.8 %

NYSE WEX opened at $180.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $180.54 and its 200-day moving average is $205.75. WEX has a one year low of $161.95 and a one year high of $244.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.54.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $652.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $653.52 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WEX will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,897 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.01, for a total transaction of $400,285.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,408 shares in the company, valued at $1,985,182.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.01, for a total transaction of $400,285.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,985,182.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,200 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.55, for a total value of $253,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,848.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,911 shares of company stock worth $1,008,402. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEX

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in WEX in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in WEX in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in WEX during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in WEX by 456.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in WEX by 233.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.