WEX (NYSE:WEX) Stock Rating Lowered by Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of WEX (NYSE:WEX) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WEX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEX currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.73.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $151.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.33 and a 200-day moving average of $185.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.58. WEX has a fifty-two week low of $149.29 and a fifty-two week high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEX will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of WEX stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value of $33,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,334.08. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in WEX by 206.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of WEX during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in WEX by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is 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.