Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 456.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $40,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WEX. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in WEX in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of WEX by 233.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the first quarter worth approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In related news, insider Melanie J. Tinto sold 1,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.04, for a total value of $289,402.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,565,623.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other WEX news, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $204,166.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,584 shares in the company, valued at $964,524.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melanie J. Tinto sold 1,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.04, for a total transaction of $289,402.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,565,623.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,477 shares of company stock worth $993,307 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEX. William Blair raised shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.58.

WEX Trading Up 2.0 %

WEX stock opened at $185.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.95 and a 1-year high of $244.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.35.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $673.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.44 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 9.32%. Research analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 13.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.