Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 1,356.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 474,107 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 441,553 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Pitney Bowes worth $3,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PBI. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,326,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 182.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew 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 during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,470,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,442,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

PBI stock opened at $9.41 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.90 and a 12 month high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio is -21.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $5,182,513.23. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 584,636 shares in the company, valued at $6,296,529.72. This trade represents a 45.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. Corporate insiders own 14.30% 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.