HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 2,851 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,436 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,851 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in WEX were worth $1,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 1.7% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 3,624 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in WEX by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,425 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in WEX by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of WEX by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 301 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of WEX by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 277 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WEX. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.64.

WEX Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of WEX stock traded down $3.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $173.79. 549,468 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 360,548. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $188.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.48. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.51 and a 1-year high of $244.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.57.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of WEX 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 approximately $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.