Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 648,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137,423 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 1.63% of WEX worth $113,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 1,635.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 8,277 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in WEX by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,283,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in WEX by 25.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in WEX by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in WEX by 108.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Price Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $133.23 on Thursday. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.45 and a 52 week high of $241.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $152.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.88.

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, 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $186.00 target price on WEX in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.