Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in WEX in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in WEX by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in WEX by 552.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 261 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in WEX by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in WEX in the third quarter worth about $59,000. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Stock Performance

WEX opened at $158.44 on Tuesday. 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 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $166.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.33.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEX. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $186.00 price target on shares of WEX in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.73.

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.