Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 317,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $2,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 130.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 889.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,319 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 7,478 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 101.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 16,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 8,221 shares during the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 18,587 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 20,677 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,598.48. This trade represents a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.66, for a total transaction of $12,075,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 622,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,935. This trade represents a 66.76 % 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. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PBI opened at $9.50 on Friday. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.90 and a fifty-two week high of $11.01. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.48, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.05.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. 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. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio is presently -21.43%.

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.