Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday.

Pitney Bowes Trading Down 4.4 %

Pitney Bowes stock traded down $0.37 on Monday, hitting $7.93. 1,760,922 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,021,453. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $9.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02. Pitney Bowes has a 1 year low of $3.90 and a 1 year high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Pitney Bowes will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. 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 payout ratio is -21.43%.

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Insider Transactions at Pitney Bowes

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $5,182,513.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 584,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,296,529.72. This trade represents a 45.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. Insiders own 14.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company's stock worth $153,217,000 after buying an additional 1,299,716 shares during the last quarter. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter worth $114,326,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,628,672 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,878,000 after acquiring an additional 51,093 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,814,811 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 586,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 103.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,269,207 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,189,000 after purchasing an additional 644,002 shares during the period. 67.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.