WEX (NYSE:WEX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 619,473 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 444,471 shares.The stock last traded at $153.91 and had previously closed at $157.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WEX. Citigroup downgraded shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEX currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.80.

WEX Stock Up 2.1 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $163.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.75. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. Equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of WEX

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in WEX by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,163,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,251,000 after purchasing an additional 25,365 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,046,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,812,000 after buying an additional 1,052,087 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of WEX by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,237,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,240,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $260,265,000 after buying an additional 3,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in WEX by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 872,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,008,000 after acquiring an additional 8,780 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.