Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 25,619 Shares of WEX Inc. $WEX

Key Points

• Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP sold 25,619 shares of WEX Inc., reducing its position by 3.2% to approximately $112.8 million during the second quarter.
• Institutional ownership of WEX is significant, with 97.47% of the stock being held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for WEX, with some upgrading it to a "buy" while others maintain a "hold," resulting in an average target price of $173.91.

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA reduced its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 768,238 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 25,619 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA owned approximately 2.24% of WEX worth $112,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in WEX by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 895,406 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $140,597,000 after buying an additional 22,672 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its holdings in WEX by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 826,188 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $129,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in WEX by 20,412.8% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 638,563 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $99,069,000 after purchasing an additional 635,450 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in WEX by 652.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 412,665 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,797,000 after purchasing an additional 357,842 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in WEX by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 412,247 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,731,000 after purchasing an additional 93,975 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WEX opened at $155.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WEX Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.45 and a 1 year high of $214.30. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $164.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded WEX from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut WEX from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on WEX from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on WEX from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $173.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Carlos Carriedo sold 875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $150,220.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,931 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.69, for a total value of $331,533.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,478.55. The trade was 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.

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.

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