Phoenix Financial Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. $PBI

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its Pitney Bowes stake by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 370,000 shares worth about $3.9 million.
• Analysts have turned more positive on Pitney Bowes, with multiple upgrades including Bank of America raising its target price to $16.50. The consensus rating is now Moderate Buy with a target price of $15.18.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.47, matching estimates, while revenue topped expectations at $477.4 million. Pitney Bowes also declared a small quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its position in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370,000 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,000 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. owned about 0.23% of Pitney Bowes worth $3,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 41.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the second quarter worth $51,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the first quarter worth $96,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the third quarter worth $127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Pitney Bowes from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Bank of America upgraded Pitney Bowes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $9.50 to $16.50 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Pitney Bowes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.18.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Pitney Bowes stock opened at $15.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.64. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.95 and a fifty-two week high of $16.52. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $12.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.04.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $477.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $471.83 million. Pitney Bowes had a net margin of 8.92% and a negative return on equity of 33.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In other news, Director Brent D. Rosenthal purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.22 per share, with a total value of $40,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at $91,980. This trade represents a 80.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 966,561 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total transaction of $14,092,459.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 452,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,599,316.24. The trade was a 68.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,456,054 shares of company stock worth $34,864,180. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

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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