WEX (NYSE:WEX) Earns "Market Perform" Rating from William Blair

William Blair reiterated their market perform rating on shares of WEX (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WEX. Bank of America cut shares of WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $247.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut shares of WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $199.73.

WEX Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of WEX stock traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $154.20. The stock had a trading volume of 832,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,618. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $176.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.69. WEX has a 12-month low of $146.03 and a 12-month high of $244.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.58.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 32.35%. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEX will post 14.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 1.7% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 3,624 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,283 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WEX

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.