Ariel Investments LLC Boosts Stock Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 113.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 318,272 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 168,832 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned 0.80% of WEX worth $55,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in WEX by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,283 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in WEX by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEX by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,959,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEX Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WEX traded down $1.23 on Tuesday, reaching $122.38. 507,234 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,696. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $140.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.74. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.45 and a 52 week high of $217.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $636.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $631.42 million. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on WEX from $172.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $182.40.

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.