Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 12,522.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,180 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,727 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 298.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 277,469 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after buying an additional 207,838 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,628,672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,878,000 after purchasing an additional 51,093 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the third quarter worth approximately $569,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the third quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 593.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 106,633 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 91,251 shares during the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In other news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total value of $834,518.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 606,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,463,040.74. The trade was a 11.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $315,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 124,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,598.48. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Pitney Bowes stock opened at $8.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.22. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.98 and a 1-year high of $11.01. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -7.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.89.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.