D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Boosts Stock Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 1,684.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 190,605 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $35,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of WEX by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in WEX by 1,635.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 8,277 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,053,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of WEX by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $127.17 on Friday. WEX Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.45 and a 12-month high of $217.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $138.41 and a 200 day moving average of $161.92.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $636.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.42 million. WEX had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 32.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WEX. Citigroup downgraded WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $186.00 target price on WEX in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEX has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.40.

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.