Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,049 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in WEX were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its position in WEX by 5.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 48,182 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in WEX by 5.0% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 720,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $151,103,000 after purchasing an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 valued at $87,772,000 after purchasing an additional 126,663 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEX by 3.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 402,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,275,000 after acquiring an additional 11,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of WEX by 5.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 378,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,131,000 after acquiring an additional 17,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Performance

NYSE WEX opened at $183.85 on Thursday. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.51 and a 1-year high of $244.04. The company has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.99.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,000. This trade represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.