WEX (NYSE:WEX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

WEX (NYSE:WEX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of WEX from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of WEX from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $209.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WEX from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on WEX from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.10.

WEX Price Performance

WEX stock opened at $182.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. WEX has a 1 year low of $125.29 and a 1 year high of $203.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.27.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $6.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $780.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $749.74 million. WEX had a return on equity of 45.74% and a net margin of 14.05%. WEX’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that WEX will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WEX

In related news, COO Joel Alan Dearborn, Jr. sold 3,343 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 17,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,200. The trade was a 16.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Robert Deshaies sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.56, for a total transaction of $347,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,288 shares in the company, valued at $3,000,505.28. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 271,902 shares of company stock worth $49,636,650. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in WEX by 557.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 13,806 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in WEX by 17.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEX during the third quarter valued at approximately $848,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in WEX by 11.0% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 2,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in WEX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $335,000. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WEX

WEX Inc is a financial technology company that provides payment processing and business management solutions. Founded in 1983 as Wright Express, the company adopted the WEX name in 2012 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine.

WEX’s fleet business offers payment cards and related services for commercial and government fleets, including tools to manage fuel purchases, vehicle expenses and fleet operations. Its travel and corporate payments business provides solutions such as virtual cards and payment services for travel companies and other businesses.

WEX also provides employee benefits administration, including platforms and services for health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, commuter benefits and COBRA administration.