Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,438 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,049 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in WEX were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in WEX by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,870 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,572,000 after acquiring an additional 22,638 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 5.6% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $173,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,182 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in WEX in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,253,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in WEX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in WEX by 856.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,289 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 11,899 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of WEX from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.91.

WEX Price Performance

NYSE WEX traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $182.70. 434,928 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 358,464. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $165.51 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The firm's 50-day moving average is $193.23 and its 200-day moving average is $186.99.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 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.