Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Buys 79,252 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 175,690 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 79,252 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of WEX worth $36,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in WEX by 124.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,870 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,572,000 after acquiring an additional 22,638 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its holdings in WEX by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $173,561,000 after buying an additional 48,182 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of WEX during the second quarter valued at about $6,253,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of WEX by 256.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 8,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of WEX in the second quarter worth about $1,227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % 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 Trading Down 1.7 %

WEX stock traded down $3.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $186.00. 228,747 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 358,529. The stock's fifty day moving average is $194.12 and its 200-day moving average is $187.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $165.51 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.57.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. WEX's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.