Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 56,727 Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 12,522.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 57,180 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 56,727 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PBI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 3,837 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Pitney Bowes

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.66, for a total transaction of $12,075,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 622,250 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,935. This trade represents a 66.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,907,650.35. The trade was a 42.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 9.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pitney Bowes Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Pitney Bowes stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $8.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 412,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,621. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a one year low of $4.07 and a one year high of $11.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.89.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is -21.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Pitney Bowes 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.