Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 88.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,002 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,695 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in WEX were worth $1,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in WEX during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in WEX by 161.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in WEX by 72.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in WEX by 78.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 440 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of WEX from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of WEX from $138.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of WEX in a report on Friday. Twelve 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $179.00.

WEX Trading Up 0.8%

WEX stock traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $175.53. 745,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,946. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $145.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.23. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.45 and a 52-week high of $217.47.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.42 million. WEX had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 41.87%. The company's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other news, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $416,441.16. This represents a 30.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith bought 3,721 shares of WEX stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.57 per share, for a total transaction of $500,734.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 101,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,616,061.74. This trade represents a 3.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.