AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Pitney Bowes Inc. $PBI

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 2,074.5% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 728,483 shares worth about $6.59 million.
• Insiders have been active, with EVP Deborah Pfeiffer selling 35,000 shares at an average price of $12.14, while director Brent D. Rosenthal purchased 3,000 shares at $11.97 each.
• Pitney Bowes recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.07 to $0.08 per share, reflecting a 2.8% yield, alongside a $400 million stock repurchase program.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 2,074.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 728,483 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 694,982 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.40% of Pitney Bowes worth $6,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $98,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $107,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the technology company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In related news, Director Brent D. Rosenthal purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.97 per share, for a total transaction of $35,910.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,910. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.14, for a total transaction of $424,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 115,405 shares in the company, valued at $1,401,016.70. This represents a 23.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Shares of Pitney Bowes stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.33. 1,930,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,064,791. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.29. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.66 and a 12-month high of $13.11.

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

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

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -53.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold".

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.