Wells Fargo & Company Boosts WEX (NYSE:WEX) Price Target to $200.00

WEX (NYSE:WEX) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

WEX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. William Blair raised shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX stock opened at $181.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. WEX has a 1 year low of $161.95 and a 1 year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $673.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.44 million. WEX had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Equities analysts forecast that WEX will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $204,166.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,584 shares in the company, valued at $964,524.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $204,166.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,584 shares in the company, valued at $964,524.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,905 shares of company stock worth $895,107 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WEX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in WEX by 96.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in WEX by 44.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,214,000 after purchasing an additional 15,884 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in WEX by 1.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in WEX during the first quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in WEX by 2.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 161,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.