HM Payson & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,341 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,775 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. owned 0.38% of WEX worth $31,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of WEX by 0.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,425 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Road Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in WEX by 0.4% during the second quarter. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC now owns 26,699 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,729,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. William Blair raised shares of WEX to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,214.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $299,937.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,182 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $204,166.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,584 shares in the company, valued at $964,524.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,341 shares of company stock worth $605,704. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEX Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WEX traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $172.60. The stock had a trading volume of 440,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 356,921. The business's 50 day moving average is $199.35 and its 200-day moving average is $192.94. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.97 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.55.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.65 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.