Palisade Capital Management LP Raises Stock Holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Palisade Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) by 54.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,205 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP's holdings in WEX were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in WEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in WEX in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of WEX by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX by 72.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of WEX by 161.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:WEX opened at $151.23 on Friday. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.45 and a 1-year high of $217.47. The business's 50-day moving average price is $136.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $631.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WEX shares. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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 decreased their price target on WEX from $172.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on WEX from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $176.90.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were bought at an average price of $134.57 per share, for a total transaction of $500,734.97. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 101,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,616,061.74. This trade represents a 3.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of WEX stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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