WEX (NYSE:WEX) Reaches New 1-Year High at $240.00

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $240.00 and last traded at $239.98, with a volume of 5151 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $238.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on WEX from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet raised WEX from a "c" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on WEX from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded WEX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.77.

WEX Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.00. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.59.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.15). WEX had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 31.33%. The company had revenue of $663.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $656.75 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at WEX

In related news, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 41,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $8,426,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,998 shares in the company, valued at $16,809,590. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.24, for a total value of $72,071.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,289,350.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 41,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $8,426,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,998 shares in the company, valued at $16,809,590. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,433 shares of company stock worth $14,708,896 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEX in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of WEX by 74.7% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of WEX by 79.8% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 169 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.