WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 43.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,048 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 137,125 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.45% of WEX worth $37,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in WEX by 233.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in WEX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $338,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in WEX by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 35,375 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,403,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in WEX by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEX by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 33,186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,883,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. William Blair upgraded shares of WEX to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of WEX from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

WEX Trading Up 2.2 %

WEX traded up $4.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $185.75. 119,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.29. The firm has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.57. WEX Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.51 and a 1 year high of $244.04.

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