Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Boosts Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WEX. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 233.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of WEX by 717.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEX by 456.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in WEX by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WEX. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. William Blair upgraded shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, WEX currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of WEX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total transaction of $299,937.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,409,214.19. The trade was a 17.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,000. This trade represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Price Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $179.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $197.33 and its 200 day moving average is $189.15. WEX Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.51 and a 12 month high of $244.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.