AlphaQuest LLC Trims Stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. $PBI

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. by 66.8%, now owning 21,479 shares after selling 43,129 during the 1st quarter, valued at $194,000.
• Pitney Bowes reported $461.91 million in revenue for the last quarter, missing estimates of $475.92 million, and set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.200-1.400 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.08 from $0.07, with a 2.6% dividend yield, and announced a share buyback program worth $400 million.

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 66.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,479 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 43,129 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,313,865 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $192,890,000 after acquiring an additional 151,353 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 38.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,918,742 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,415,000 after acquiring an additional 817,953 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 103.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,269,207 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,189,000 after acquiring an additional 644,002 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 932,635 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,752,000 after acquiring an additional 280,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 493.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 850,538 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,697,000 after acquiring an additional 707,133 shares in the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pitney Bowes Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of PBI opened at $12.14 on Friday. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.22 and a 12 month high of $13.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $11.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.23, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.54.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.27. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 38.01% and a negative net margin of 5.60%.The company had revenue of $461.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $475.92 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Pitney Bowes's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Pitney Bowes has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.200-1.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is presently -53.33%.

Pitney Bowes announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 30th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 18.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Sidoti raised Pitney Bowes to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.14, for a total value of $424,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 115,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,401,016.70. The trade was a 23.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pitney Bowes 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.

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