Advisory Services Network LLC Invests $358,000 in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 49,398 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBI. Hestia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter valued at $114,326,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,563,000 after buying an additional 30,658 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,814,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,139,000 after buying an additional 586,249 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. American Assets Inc. now owns 130,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 182.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 967,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,897,000 after acquiring an additional 624,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $5,182,513.23. Following the transaction, the director now owns 584,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,296,529.72. The trade was a 45.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,650.35. This represents a 42.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631 in the last 90 days. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pitney Bowes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PBI opened at $8.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.21. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.94 and a 52 week high of $11.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.89.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.16. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 20.95%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is currently -21.43%.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc, a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments.