Amundi Boosts Stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Amundi lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 214.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,718 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,253 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the third quarter valued at about $3,442,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 39.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 88,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 24,952 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 76.9% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 344,829 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 149,944 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the third quarter valued at about $636,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the third quarter valued at about $197,000. 67.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In related news, 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 transaction of $315,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 124,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,598.48. This trade represents a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total value of $1,407,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock worth $19,815,631 in the last three months. 14.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Pitney Bowes Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of PBI opened at $9.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.90 and a 12-month high of $11.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.94.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -21.43%.

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.