Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Shares Up 4.3%

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) shares shot up 4.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $4.89 and last traded at $4.87. 482,258 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,484,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Pitney Bowes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd.

Pitney Bowes Stock Up 2.2 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.43.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.00 million. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 3.09% and a negative net margin of 11.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 0.02 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is -9.22%.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 13.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,732,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,251,000 after acquiring an additional 321,438 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 164.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,738,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,506 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 950,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,145,000 after purchasing an additional 349,599 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 8.7% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 765,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after purchasing an additional 61,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Pitney Bowes in the fourth quarter valued at $1,869,000. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.