Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,420 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,416 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of WEX worth $11,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in WEX by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 1,635.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 8,277 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,008 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in WEX by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WEX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America downgraded WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $187.80.

WEX Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of WEX traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $123.25. 534,049 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 547,406. The business has a 50 day moving average of $147.04 and a 200 day moving average of $170.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.45 and a 1-year high of $235.20.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

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.