Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) is American Assets Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

American Assets Inc. increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 80.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Pitney Bowes accounts for 0.3% of American Assets Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. American Assets Inc. owned 0.07% of Pitney Bowes worth $941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBI. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the fourth quarter worth about $114,326,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 624,878 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 586,249 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the third quarter valued at $3,470,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Pitney Bowes in the third quarter worth $3,442,000. 67.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pitney Bowes Trading Down 2.6 %

PBI opened at $9.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.81 and a 200 day moving average of $7.82. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.90 and a 12 month high of $11.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research 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 will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is -21.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $315,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total value of $834,518.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 606,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,463,040.74. The trade was a 11.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.