KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $1.49 Million Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the fourth quarter valued at $354,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in WEX by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 481,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,415,000 after acquiring an additional 23,859 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,339,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in WEX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,315,000. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of WEX stock opened at $154.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $162.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.32. WEX Inc. has a one year low of $146.03 and a one year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced 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 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. Sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $186.00 target price on shares of WEX in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup downgraded WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $260.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.80.

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.