Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 578,540 Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. $PBI

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings cut its Pitney Bowes stake by 77.1%, selling 578,540 shares and retaining 171,684 shares valued at approximately $1.89 million. Institutional investors collectively own 67.88% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.43, despite Citizens JMP raising its target to $19.00.
• Company insiders sold 3.35 million shares worth $53.3 million over the past three months, while Pitney Bowes shares recently traded at $17.86, near the 12-month high of $18.77.

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 77.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,684 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 578,540 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.12% of Pitney Bowes worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PBI. Capital Management Corp VA increased its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 2,930,328 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,974,000 after acquiring an additional 592,568 shares during the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $807,000. Solidarity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,236,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 491,200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,192,000 after acquiring an additional 124,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 698,354 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,382,000 after acquiring an additional 111,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on PBI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of Pitney Bowes from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $15.20 price objective on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.43.

• Pitney Bowes NYSE: PBI is Surging, Is it Too Risky?

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 18,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.06, for a total transaction of $301,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,571,117.68. This trade represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 316,280 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.10, for a total value of $5,408,388.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,726,603. This represents a 59.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,349,130 shares of company stock worth $53,285,535 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Shares of PBI opened at $17.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.62. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.95 and a twelve month high of $18.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $17.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.53.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Pitney Bowes had a net margin of 8.92% and a negative return on equity of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $477.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is 38.83%.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc NYSE: PBI is an American technology company that specializes in shipping, mailing, and e-commerce solutions. Founded in 1920 by Walter Bowes and Arthur Pitney, the company pioneered postage meter technology and has since evolved to offer a broad portfolio of hardware, software, and services designed to streamline physical and digital communications. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Pitney Bowes leverages a century of expertise to serve enterprises, small businesses, and government agencies around the globe.

The company's core offerings span mailing and shipping equipment, including postage meters, folder inserters, and address verification systems, alongside integrated software platforms for customer information management, data analytics, and location intelligence.

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