Jennison Associates LLC Lowers Stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137,125 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.45% of WEX worth $37,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEX by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,572,000 after purchasing an additional 22,638 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its position in WEX by 5.6% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,182 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the second quarter worth approximately $6,253,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEX by 256.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 8,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of WEX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Up 0.8 %

WEX stock opened at $181.71 on Friday. WEX Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $244.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $196.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. The trade was a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. William Blair raised WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WEX currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

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.