New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,200 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in WEX were worth $1,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in WEX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in WEX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in WEX by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 72.2% during the fourth 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 period. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In related news, 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 owned 3,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $416,441.16. This trade represents a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith bought 3,721 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $134.57 per share, with a total value of $500,734.97. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEX traded down $3.44 on Friday, hitting $150.75. 332,896 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 581,380. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.45 and a 1-year high of $217.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $139.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.11. WEX had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 37.90%. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $631.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of WEX from $172.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of WEX from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.