ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 5.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of WEX by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,122,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $607,482,000 after purchasing an additional 179,813 shares in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in WEX by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,199,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $816,919,000 after acquiring an additional 67,893 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in WEX by 1,610.6% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 58,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,839,000 after acquiring an additional 54,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its position in WEX by 5.6% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 48,182 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WEX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $97,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,470,240. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Melanie J. Tinto sold 1,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.04, for a total transaction of $289,402.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,565,623.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $97,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,470,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,985 shares of company stock worth $1,094,907. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEX Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:WEX opened at $205.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $188.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.66. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.95 and a 52 week high of $244.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.54.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. WEX had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $673.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.44 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share 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.