Crestline Management LP Purchases Shares of 9,105 WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,105 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in WEX by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,046,614 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $358,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,087 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 872,734 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $153,008,000 after purchasing an additional 8,780 shares during the period. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 823,434 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $144,364,000 after buying an additional 3,190 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 725,842 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $127,255,000 after buying an additional 5,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in WEX by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 602,693 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $105,653,000 after buying an additional 18,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

WEX Stock Up 6.4%

WEX stock traded up $8.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $135.04. The company had a trading volume of 474,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 560,146. The firm's fifty day moving average is $138.02 and its 200-day moving average is $161.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WEX Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.45 and a fifty-two week high of $217.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.11. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on WEX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on WEX from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America cut WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $186.00 price objective on WEX in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $182.40.

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.