Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,210 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 44,366 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.24% of WEX worth $19,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEX. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,305,000 after buying an additional 134,099 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in WEX by 34.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $87,772,000 after acquiring an additional 126,663 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in WEX by 8.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $326,237,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in WEX by 328.6% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 79,252 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WEX traded down $1.67 on Friday, hitting $173.05. 199,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 360,787. The firm's 50-day moving average is $182.05 and its 200 day moving average is $185.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.57. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.51 and a 1-year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm 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%. The company's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded WEX from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEX presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.64.

Insider Activity

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

WEX Company 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.