Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases Shares of 6,663 WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,663 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in WEX by 672.7% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,305,000 after acquiring an additional 134,099 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $326,237,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 328.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares during the period. 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 worth $36,847,000 after buying an additional 79,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in WEX by 61.3% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 149,341 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,321,000 after buying an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value 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. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

WEX Price Performance

WEX traded down $1.67 on Friday, reaching $181.33. 335,996 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,103. WEX Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.51 and a twelve month high of $244.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $179.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.26.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.73.

WEX 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.