Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,947 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 78,412 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.86% of WEX worth $46,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in WEX by 105.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,046,614 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $358,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,087 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEX by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 872,734 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $153,008,000 after buying an additional 8,780 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of WEX by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 823,434 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $144,364,000 after purchasing an additional 3,190 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 602,693 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $105,653,000 after buying an additional 18,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of WEX by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 481,490 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $84,415,000 after acquiring an additional 23,859 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEX news, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.08, for a total value of $183,512.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,177 shares in the company, valued at $416,441.16. The trade was a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith purchased 3,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $134.57 per share, with a total value of $500,734.97. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 101,182 shares in the company, valued at $13,616,061.74. The trade was a 3.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX traded down $2.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $149.36. 288,045 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 580,975. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.45 and a 52 week high of $217.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $140.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.23.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.11. WEX had a return on equity of 37.90% and a net margin of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of WEX from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on WEX in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on WEX from $172.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $176.90.

WEX Company 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.