Pitney Bowes Inc. $PBI Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its Pitney Bowes stake by 30.9%, selling 322,683 shares and retaining 721,947 shares worth approximately $8.0 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 67.88% of the company.
• Pitney Bowes insiders sold 3.35 million shares worth roughly $53.3 million over the past 90 days; CEO Kurt James Wolf alone sold 966,561 shares, reducing his direct position by 68.11%.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $16.43, below the stock’s recent $17.86 opening price. The company met quarterly EPS expectations at $0.47, while revenue of $477.4 million exceeded estimates but declined 3.2% year over year.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Free Report) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 721,947 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 322,683 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Pitney Bowes worth $7,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 41.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 190.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 404.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,022 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Pitney Bowes in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. 67.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Pitney Bowes

In related news, 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 $6,599,316.24. This represents a 68.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,349,130 shares of company stock worth $53,285,535. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Several analysts have issued reports on PBI shares. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Pitney Bowes from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $15.20 target price on Pitney Bowes in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Zacks Research cut Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Pitney Bowes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $9.50 to $16.50 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pitney Bowes currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.43.

Pitney Bowes Stock Down 0.1%

PBI opened at $17.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.62. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.95 and a fifty-two week high of $18.77. The company's 50-day moving average price is $17.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.53.

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

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

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

Pitney Bowes 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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