Man Group plc Increases Holdings in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Man Group plc grew its stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 76.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,142 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,694 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.06% of Pitney Bowes worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter worth about $114,326,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 4.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 932,635 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,752,000 after buying an additional 280,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $153,217,000 after buying an additional 1,299,716 shares during the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PBI traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 327,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,112,554. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.90 and a 200-day moving average of $8.62. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.62 and a 12 month high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $493.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $498.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -30.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PBI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Sidoti upgraded Pitney Bowes to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In other Pitney Bowes news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $5,182,513.23. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 584,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,296,529.72. This trade represents a 45.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.