PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 1,886 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 21.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $2,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,305,000 after purchasing an additional 134,099 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in WEX by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,772,000 after buying an additional 126,663 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of WEX by 328.6% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after buying an additional 97,807 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter worth about $13,950,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in WEX by 61.3% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 149,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,321,000 after acquiring an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

WEX Price Performance

WEX stock opened at $188.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $196.01 and its 200 day moving average is $187.80. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $165.51 and a 52 week high of $244.04. 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 (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Profile

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.