WEX (NYSE:WEX) Director Sells $36,200,000.00 in Stock

Key Points

• WEX director Lauren Taylor Wolfe sold 200,000 shares for $36.2 million at an average of $181 per share, reducing her holdings by 11.71% to about 1.51 million shares. She also sold 34,577 shares in a separate transaction for approximately $6.37 million.
• WEX reported quarterly earnings of $6.13 per share, beating the $5.68 consensus estimate; revenue rose 12.8% year over year to $780.1 million, also above expectations.
• Analysts give WEX a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $191.10; shares recently traded at $182.57.

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) Director Lauren Taylor Wolfe sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $36,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,507,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $272,849,717. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Lauren Taylor Wolfe also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 6th, Lauren Taylor Wolfe sold 34,577 shares of WEX stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.19, for a total transaction of $6,368,737.63.

WEX Stock Performance

WEX stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Monday, reaching $182.57. 621,779 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 579,670. WEX Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.29 and a twelve month high of $203.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $6.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.45. WEX had a return on equity of 45.74% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $780.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $749.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.59 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WEX from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $209.00 target price on the stock. Evercore raised shares of WEX to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of WEX from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, WEX has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $191.10.

Institutional Trading of WEX

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 557.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,284 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 13,806 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in WEX by 17.4% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 689 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEX in the third quarter worth about $848,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in WEX by 11.0% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 2,056 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in WEX during the 3rd quarter worth about $335,000. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About WEX

WEX Inc is a financial technology company that provides payment processing and business management solutions. Founded in 1983 as Wright Express, the company adopted the WEX name in 2012 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine.

WEX's fleet business offers payment cards and related services for commercial and government fleets, including tools to manage fuel purchases, vehicle expenses and fleet operations. Its travel and corporate payments business provides solutions such as virtual cards and payment services for travel companies and other businesses.

WEX also provides employee benefits administration, including platforms and services for health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, commuter benefits and COBRA administration.

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