Pitney Bowes Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PBI)

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 15,709 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 252% compared to the average volume of 4,464 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pitney Bowes news, Director Paul J. Evans acquired 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $7.80 per share, with a total value of $226,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 29,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $226,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,405,593 shares of company stock valued at $13,568,759 over the last 90 days. 14.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter valued at about $114,326,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,814,811 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,139,000 after buying an additional 586,249 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Pitney Bowes by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 344,829 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 149,944 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 3,308.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 320,152 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 310,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 182.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 967,384 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,897,000 after acquiring an additional 624,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

NYSE:PBI traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $10.55. The stock had a trading volume of 3,871,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,900,217. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 2.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $7.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.42. Pitney Bowes has a 1 year low of $3.73 and a 1 year high of $10.81.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.16. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 12.85% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. Equities research analysts predict that Pitney Bowes will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is currently -9.17%.

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.