Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Invests $575,000 in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 79,441 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

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

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Shares of Pitney Bowes stock traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $8.28. The stock had a trading volume of 327,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,057. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.42 and a 200 day moving average of $8.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.39, a PEG 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.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -21.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $315,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 124,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,119,598.48. This represents a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $5,182,513.23. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 584,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,296,529.72. This represents a 45.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631 over the last ninety days. 14.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.