American Assets Inc. Grows Stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

American Assets Inc. increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 80.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Pitney Bowes comprises approximately 0.3% of American Assets Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. American Assets Inc.’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PBI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 889.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,319 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 7,478 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 101.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 16,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 8,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, James J. Burns & Company LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In other Pitney Bowes news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 622,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,935. This trade represents a 66.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock worth $19,815,631. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:PBI opened at $9.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.50, a PEG 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.82.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -21.43%.

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.