WEX (NYSE:WEX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $213.04, but opened at $180.00. WEX shares last traded at $184.11, with a volume of 422,233 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WEX. William Blair upgraded shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.92.

WEX Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $199.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.55.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $673.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.44 million. WEX had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 31.05%. On average, analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total transaction of $299,937.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,214.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,214.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,905 shares of company stock valued at $895,107. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,772,000 after purchasing an additional 126,663 shares during the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in WEX in the second quarter valued at about $13,950,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in WEX by 1,610.6% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 58,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,839,000 after acquiring an additional 54,858 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its stake in shares of WEX by 5.6% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of WEX during the second quarter valued at about $7,139,000. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.