Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,534 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,534 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.19% of WEX worth $13,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,163,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,251,000 after buying an additional 25,365 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in WEX by 8.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,237,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of WEX by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,240,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $260,265,000 after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 5.0% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 720,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $151,103,000 after purchasing an additional 34,264 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 5.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 308,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,611,000 after purchasing an additional 16,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WEX. Bank of America downgraded shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup lowered WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEX currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value of $33,152.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE WEX opened at $152.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.58. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.03 and a 52 week high of $244.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.99.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.