Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 65,700 Pitney Bowes Inc. $PBI

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Pitney Bowes, buying 65,700 shares worth about $726,000 in the first quarter.
• Pitney Bowes shares were nearly flat at $16.81, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.47, matching expectations and slightly topping revenue forecasts with $477.4 million in sales.
• The company cut its dividend to $0.01 per quarter, and recent insider activity showed heavy selling, including CEO Kurt James Wolf’s sale of 966,561 shares; analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a $16.43 consensus target.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 65,700 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Pitney Bowes by 246.7% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,197,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $44,364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,986,689 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 89.5% during the third quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 3,364,466 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588,579 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the first quarter valued at about $16,403,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,630,801 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,808,000 after purchasing an additional 988,653 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,622,003 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,917,000 after buying an additional 597,938 shares in the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pitney Bowes Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PBI traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.81. The company had a trading volume of 38,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,899,822. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.62. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.95 and a 1-year high of $18.25.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $477.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.83 million. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 8.92%.Pitney Bowes's revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PBI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Pitney Bowes from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America raised Pitney Bowes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $9.50 to $16.50 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 18,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.06, for a total value of $301,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,571,117.68. This trade represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 966,561 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total value of $14,092,459.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 452,628 shares in the company, valued at $6,599,316.24. The trade was a 68.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,829,889 shares of company stock valued at $44,443,606 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

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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