Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Lowers Position in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,296,265 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 575,010 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $16,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hestia Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter worth about $114,326,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,628,672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,878,000 after purchasing an additional 51,093 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 182.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 967,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,897,000 after purchasing an additional 624,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after buying an additional 30,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total transaction of $834,518.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 606,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,463,040.74. This trade represents a 11.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 124,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,598.48. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock worth $19,815,631. Insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PBI opened at $9.44 on Friday. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.90 and a 1-year high of $11.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -21.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Pitney Bowes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

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.