Cozad Asset Management Inc. Raises Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the 3rd quarter worth $6,545,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WEX by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,131,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,023,000 after buying an additional 83,102 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its position in shares of WEX by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 27,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,308,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the 4th quarter worth $357,000. Finally, RDA Financial Network increased its holdings in WEX by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on WEX shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on WEX in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on WEX from $246.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on WEX from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on WEX from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on WEX from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.85.

WEX Stock Performance

NYSE WEX traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $189.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 261,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,859. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.53. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.95 and a 52 week high of $244.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.15. WEX had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The firm had revenue of $652.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $653.52 million. Equities research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $97,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,470,240. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $97,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,470,240. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,897 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.01, for a total value of $400,285.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,985,182.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,371 shares of company stock valued at $905,802 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.