Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Stock Price Up 3% – Should You Buy?

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) shares shot up 3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.75 and last traded at $9.76. 240,928 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,905,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio is currently -21.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total value of $834,518.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 606,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available 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 transaction of $315,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 124,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,598.48. This represents a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. 14.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hestia Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Pitney Bowes in the fourth quarter valued at about $114,326,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Pitney Bowes by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 30,658 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in 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 worth $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 586,249 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. increased its position in Pitney Bowes by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. American Assets Inc. now owns 130,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 3,308.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 320,152 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 310,758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Company 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.