Swiss National Bank Buys 3,600 Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 317,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.17% of Pitney Bowes worth $2,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 88,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 24,952 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the third quarter worth approximately $197,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 33.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 84,893 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 21,367 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 310,758 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 31.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 209,169 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after buying an additional 49,854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In related news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 owns 622,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,935. This represents a 66.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,650.35. This represents a 42.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock worth $19,815,631. 14.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

NYSE:PBI opened at $9.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of -8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.90 and a 52-week high of $11.01.

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%. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. 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. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -21.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.