Aurora Investment Counsel Trims Position in WEX Inc. $WEX

Aurora Investment Counsel cut its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 535 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in WEX were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in WEX by 1.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 59,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,272,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in WEX by 399.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 210,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,085,000 after purchasing an additional 168,558 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in WEX by 88.5% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 4,695 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new stake in WEX in the first quarter worth $389,000. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in WEX by 47.2% in the second quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other WEX news, COO Carlos Carriedo sold 875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $150,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,753.60. This represents a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,931 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.69, for a total value of $331,533.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,252,478.55. This represents a 20.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEX Trading Up 1.7%

WEX stock opened at $153.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WEX Inc. has a one year low of $110.45 and a one year high of $217.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $165.06 and its 200 day moving average is $150.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on WEX from $138.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research cut WEX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Mizuho upped their price target on WEX from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on WEX in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.50.

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.