Trust Co. of Vermont Buys 1,005 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 239.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in WEX were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX by 672.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,305,000 after buying an additional 134,099 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in WEX by 34.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,772,000 after acquiring an additional 126,663 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in WEX by 8.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,237,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in WEX by 328.6% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WEX by 82.2% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 79,252 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at WEX

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $247.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.55.

WEX Price Performance

WEX stock opened at $184.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $178.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.13. WEX Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.51 and a 1 year high of $244.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.03 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About WEX

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.