KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 37,200 Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,200 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 130.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 889.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,319 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 7,478 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,283 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 3,837 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Pitney Bowes Stock Down 0.1 %

Pitney Bowes stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,715,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,054,435. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.89. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.92 and a twelve month high of $11.01. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $9.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.19.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.16. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 20.95% and a negative net margin of 7.71%. Equities analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -21.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.66, for a total value of $12,075,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 622,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,935. This trade represents a 66.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.