Bank of America Corp DE Has $6.75 Million Stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 932,635 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 280,402 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.51% of Pitney Bowes worth $6,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company's stock worth $153,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,716 shares during the period. Hestia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,326,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 880,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,373,000 after purchasing an additional 221,300 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,245,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 30,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pitney Bowes news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $5,182,513.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 584,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,296,529.72. This represents a 45.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PBI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of PBI traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.23. 1,938,108 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,116,874. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.60. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.62 and a twelve month high of $11.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 20.95%. The company had revenue of $493.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Pitney Bowes's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is currently -30.77%.

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.