Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 261.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,300 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,347 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PBI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 130.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 3,837 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PBI. Sidoti upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Pitney Bowes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In other Pitney Bowes 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 in the company, valued at $6,296,529.72. The trade was a 45.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,650.35. This trade represents a 42.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 613,244 shares of company stock valued at $6,607,591. Insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Shares of PBI opened at $9.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.62 and a 1 year high of $11.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.49.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 20.95%. The company had revenue of $493.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. Pitney Bowes’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio is currently -30.77%.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

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.