Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in WEX were worth $2,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 8.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,237,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 82.2% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after buying an additional 79,252 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WEX by 168.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 82,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,533,000 after acquiring an additional 52,056 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 300.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 68,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,375,000 after acquiring an additional 51,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,750,000 after acquiring an additional 46,000 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEX opened at $156.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.71. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.03 and a 52 week high of $244.04. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEX. Mizuho reduced their price objective on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $186.00 price target on shares of WEX in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEX has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $195.73.

WEX Company 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.