Melissa Smith Sells 28,109 Shares of WEX (NYSE:WEX) Stock

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) CEO Melissa Smith sold 28,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.09, for a total transaction of $5,343,239.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,070,146.25. This trade represents a 18.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

WEX Price Performance

NYSE:WEX opened at $193.75 on Friday. WEX Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.29 and a 52-week high of $203.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.19 and a 200 day moving average of $160.06.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $5.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.08 by $0.27. WEX had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 43.19%. The company had revenue of $753.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. WEX has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.650 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 19.680-20.080 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEX declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 14th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 21.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in WEX by 13,928.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,361,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $756,522,000 after buying an additional 5,323,763 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of WEX in the 2nd quarter worth $559,710,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,916,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $599,313,000 after purchasing an additional 44,031 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the 2nd quarter worth $446,833,000. Finally, Par Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in WEX by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,252,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,503,000 after purchasing an additional 400,500 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WEX from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $178.00 price objective on shares of WEX in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of WEX from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of WEX to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.30.

About WEX

WEX Inc is a global financial technology company specializing in business payment solutions for fleet, travel, and corporate payments. The company delivers software-driven platforms and card-based services that help businesses automate payment processes, manage expenses and improve operational efficiency across a range of industries, including transportation, healthcare and government.

Founded in 1983 as Wright Express in Portland, Maine, the company began by offering fuel card services to trucking fleets.