Bamco Inc. NY Reduces Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Bamco Inc. NY cut its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 243,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,076 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 0.61% of WEX worth $51,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in WEX by 856.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,289 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,157,000 after purchasing an additional 11,899 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEX in the 1st quarter valued at $327,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in WEX during the 2nd quarter worth about $94,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in WEX by 256.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,084,000 after buying an additional 8,466 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 37.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 453 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX traded down $3.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.00. 228,747 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,529. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $165.51 and a 52 week high of $244.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $193.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.01. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.57.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value of $33,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEX. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.