Norges Bank Invests $89.75 Million in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 461,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $89,745,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.08% of WEX at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEX by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,131,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,023,000 after buying an additional 83,102 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in WEX by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,324,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $249,149,000 after acquiring an additional 52,897 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its holdings in WEX by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 866,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,865 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in WEX by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 372,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,374,000 after purchasing an additional 28,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of WEX by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 338,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $65,838,000 after purchasing an additional 7,867 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of WEX from $185.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on WEX from $205.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on WEX from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.00.

Insider Activity at WEX

In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 1,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.07, for a total value of $381,345.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,759 shares in the company, valued at $388,862.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 1,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.07, for a total transaction of $381,345.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,759 shares in the company, valued at $388,862.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Kimball sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.55, for a total transaction of $253,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,909 shares in the company, valued at $403,848.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,865 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,019 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX stock opened at $187.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.27 and a 200-day moving average of $207.00. The company has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. WEX Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.95 and a 52 week high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.15. WEX had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The business had revenue of $652.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.52 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 13.98 earnings per share 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.