Marshall Wace LLP Cuts Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 20,756 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.14% of WEX worth $9,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in WEX by 105.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,046,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052,087 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,535,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,689,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in WEX during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,444,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP lifted its holdings in WEX by 379.8% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 72,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,766,000 after buying an additional 57,639 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WEX. Citigroup lowered WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America cut WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.80.

WEX Stock Down 2.2 %

WEX opened at $120.54 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $146.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.99. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.45 and a 52 week high of $235.20. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.33. 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 data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 32.35%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

WEX 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.