SG Americas Securities LLC Invests $279,000 in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,776 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WEX. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in WEX by 27,871.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 69,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,848,000 after purchasing an additional 68,842 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of WEX by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,283,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,008 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in WEX by 108.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

WEX Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of WEX stock opened at $149.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.22. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.45 and a 12-month high of $217.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $134.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.94.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $636.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $631.42 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 37.90%. WEX's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other news, CEO Melissa D. Smith bought 3,721 shares of the 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 owns 101,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,616,061.74. This represents a 3.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,400 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,441.16. This represents a 30.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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