PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 1,886 Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in WEX were worth $2,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of WEX during the third quarter valued at about $3,733,000. 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. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in WEX by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 12,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in WEX by 13.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,187 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEX by 290.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,995,000 after acquiring an additional 10,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,000. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEX Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE WEX opened at $188.15 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $196.01 and its 200-day moving average is $187.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.57. WEX Inc. has a one year low of $165.51 and a one year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current 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.