WEX (NYSE:WEX) Price Target Raised to $190.00

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $180.00 to $190.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "hold" rating on the business services provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 3.84% from the stock's previous close.

WEX has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of WEX from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.73.

WEX Trading Down 0.3 %

WEX stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $182.98. The company had a trading volume of 319,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,562. WEX has a 1-year low of $165.51 and a 1-year high of $244.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $178.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.21. The stock has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share 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 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that WEX will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 0.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,163,678 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $873,251,000 after buying an additional 25,365 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $326,237,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of WEX by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,240,953 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $260,265,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 720,465 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $151,103,000 after acquiring an additional 34,264 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in WEX by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $87,772,000 after purchasing an additional 126,663 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.