Oak Thistle LLC Takes $392,000 Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in WEX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $533,000. Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 50.2% in the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 10,310 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the first quarter worth $243,000. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its position in WEX by 5.5% during the first quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 7,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other news, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.08, for a total value of $183,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,441.16. This represents a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith acquired 3,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $134.57 per share, for a total transaction of $500,734.97. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 101,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,616,061.74. The trade was a 3.82% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX opened at $175.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. WEX Inc. has a one year low of $110.45 and a one year high of $217.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $145.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.09.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $636.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.42 million. WEX had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 11.79%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on WEX from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of WEX from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of WEX from $138.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of WEX from $186.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.00.

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.