Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 1,299,716 Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,162,512 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,299,716 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.65% of Pitney Bowes worth $153,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PBI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 889.2% during 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. lifted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,283 shares of the technology company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 3,837 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value 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 approximately $6,296,529.72. The trade was a 45.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 124,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,598.48. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company's stock.

Pitney Bowes Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Pitney Bowes stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $8.02. 1,715,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,054,435. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.92 and a 12-month high of $11.01. The company has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of -7.16, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.19.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.