New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 1,971 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,971 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.32% of WEX worth $22,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of WEX by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,305,000 after acquiring an additional 134,099 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEX by 8.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,237,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WEX by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 79,252 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of WEX by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 149,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,321,000 after buying an additional 56,775 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in WEX by 300.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 68,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,375,000 after buying an additional 51,423 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEX Price Performance

WEX stock opened at $150.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.58. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $172.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.02. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.03 and a 52 week high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. On average, equities analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at WEX

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of WEX 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WEX. Citigroup cut WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group reduced 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.73.

WEX 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.