WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 44,366 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.24% of WEX worth $19,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEX in the third quarter valued at $2,507,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of WEX by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $251,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEX by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:WEX opened at $174.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. WEX Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.51 and a 1 year high of $244.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $182.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.57.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) 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. The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. WEX’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEX currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.64.

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.