Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 29,718 Shares of WEX Inc. $WEX

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. sold 29,718 shares of WEX Inc., reducing its stake by 11.2% to approximately 236,626 shares valued at $37,155,000.
• Insider transactions included COO Carlos Carriedo selling 875 shares for $150,220, representing a 14.24% decrease in his ownership.
• Several analysts raised their price targets on WEX, with Mizuho increasing it from $150.00 to $185.00, while the stock maintains a consensus rating of "Hold."

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,626 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 29,718 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.69% of WEX worth $37,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of WEX during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of WEX during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 161.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 50.7% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 422 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 78.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 440 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other news, COO Carlos Carriedo sold 875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $150,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at $904,753.60. This represents a 14.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,931 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.69, for a total transaction of $331,533.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,252,478.55. This represents a 20.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WEX. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of WEX from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of WEX in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of WEX from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of WEX from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $179.82.

WEX Stock Down 1.1%

WEX stock traded down $1.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.33. The stock had a trading volume of 141,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,917. WEX Inc. has a one year low of $110.45 and a one year high of $217.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99. The company's 50 day moving average is $163.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.33. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.31.

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.