Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 248,513 Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 49.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 747,634 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 248,513 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $5,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hestia Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,326,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 30,658 shares during 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 valued at $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 586,249 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. American Assets Inc. now owns 130,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 3,308.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 320,152 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 310,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Pitney Bowes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PBI opened at $9.07 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.10. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.90 and a 52-week high of $11.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last released its earnings results 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.06 dividend. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is presently -21.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In other news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $315,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 124,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,598.48. This represents a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.66, for a total value of $12,075,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 622,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,935. This trade represents a 66.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.