WEX (NYSE:WEX) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 720,984 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 504,640 shares.The stock last traded at $151.33 and had previously closed at $161.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEX has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.80.

WEX Trading Down 11.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $158.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.75.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEX. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in WEX in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in WEX by 552.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 261 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.