California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 7,110 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,110 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of WEX worth $15,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in WEX by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 41.1% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 3.9% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 0.9% during the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 8,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 3.7% during the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other news, Director Stephen Montgomery Smith purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $165.31 per share, for a total transaction of $165,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,864 shares in the company, valued at $804,067.84. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen Montgomery Smith purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $165.31 per share, for a total transaction of $165,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,864 shares in the company, valued at $804,067.84. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 399 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.87, for a total transaction of $69,374.13. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,395.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of WEX from $218.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of WEX from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of WEX from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of WEX from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WEX currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.54.

WEX Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of WEX stock opened at $174.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $185.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.35. WEX Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.32 and a 1 year high of $204.05. The stock has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.60.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The business services provider reported $3.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.15. WEX had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 32.16%. The firm had revenue of $651.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.45 million. Equities research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 12.63 earnings per share for the current year.

WEX Profile

WEX Inc operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Fleet Solutions segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services. It also provides account 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 tools to fleets to manage expenses and capital requirements.