WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,576 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 21,690 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.34% of WEX worth $24,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in WEX by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,237 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,636,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of WEX by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 16,802 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of WEX by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 64,895 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,496,000 after acquiring an additional 10,021 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of WEX by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,466 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of WEX by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 378,969 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $67,131,000 after acquiring an additional 17,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $97,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,470,240. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total transaction of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,477 shares of company stock valued at $993,307. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded WEX to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.58.

WEX Price Performance

WEX traded down $2.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $188.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 326,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,459. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $180.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. WEX Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.95 and a 12 month high of $244.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.54.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $673.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $677.44 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share 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.