River Road Asset Management LLC Has $141.53 Million Stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 727,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28,638 shares during the period. WEX accounts for approximately 2.0% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $141,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEX by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,196,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $748,819,000 after acquiring an additional 131,664 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in WEX by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,107,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $732,950,000 after buying an additional 49,480 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in WEX by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,101,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $731,925,000 after buying an additional 164,902 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in WEX by 342.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,059,893 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,102,000 after buying an additional 1,594,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in WEX by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,336,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,840,000 after buying an additional 39,312 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of WEX from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of WEX from $205.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of WEX from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.00.

WEX Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE WEX traded down $3.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $229.87. 256,396 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,192. The firm has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $228.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. WEX Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.95 and a fifty-two week high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $663.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $656.75 million. WEX had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 31.33%. Analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 41,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $8,426,935.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,809,590. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other WEX news, SVP Sara Trickett sold 887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.61, for a total value of $199,229.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Melissa D. Smith sold 41,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $8,426,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,809,590. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,433 shares of company stock valued at $14,708,896. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.