Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 7,968 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 145.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,461 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,968 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in WEX were worth $2,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Net Worth Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of WEX by 54.4% during the first quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEX during the 1st quarter valued at $279,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in WEX by 86.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,557 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,426,000 after purchasing an additional 16,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 161.5% in 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 last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

WEX Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WEX stock opened at $140.79 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.84 and a 200-day moving average of $152.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.45 and a 12-month high of $217.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.22.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $631.42 million. WEX had a return on equity of 37.90% and a net margin of 12.07%. The company's revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WEX

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

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