Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 222,317 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 178,380 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Pitney Bowes worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,563,000 after buying an additional 30,658 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,814,811 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,139,000 after buying an additional 586,249 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. American Assets Inc. now owns 130,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company's stock worth $153,217,000 after buying an additional 1,299,716 shares during the period. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

PBI traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $9.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,258,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,098,523. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.62 and a 1 year high of $11.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $8.82 and its 200 day moving average is $8.53.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $493.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.99 million. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 20.95% and a negative net margin of 7.71%. Pitney Bowes's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -30.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PBI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Sidoti raised Pitney Bowes to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,650.35. This represents a 42.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $5,182,513.23. Following the sale, the director now owns 584,636 shares in the company, valued at $6,296,529.72. The trade was a 45.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 613,244 shares of company stock valued at $6,607,591 in the last quarter. Insiders own 9.00% of the company's stock.

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.