Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $32.31 Million Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 672.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,033 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 134,099 shares during the quarter. WEX comprises 1.7% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.39% of WEX worth $32,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WEX. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 717.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 188 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in WEX by 456.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in WEX by 233.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were 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 owns 7,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,214.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

WEX Stock Up 0.7 %

WEX stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $173.79. The company had a trading volume of 437,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,303. WEX Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $244.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.55. The firm's fifty day moving average is $199.16 and its 200-day moving average is $192.80.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. WEX's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of WEX to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.91.

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.