Insider Selling: WEX (NYSE:WEX) Director Sells $36,200,000.00 in Stock

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Director Lauren Taylor Wolfe sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $36,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,507,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,849,717. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Lauren Taylor Wolfe also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 6th, Lauren Taylor Wolfe sold 34,577 shares of WEX stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.19, for a total transaction of $6,368,737.63.

WEX Stock Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $182.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. WEX Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.29 and a fifty-two week high of $203.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.48.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $6.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.45. WEX had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 45.74%. The business had revenue of $780.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $749.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEX. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of WEX from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research upgraded WEX from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised WEX from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on WEX in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $209.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in WEX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of WEX by 97.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.