Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 737,715 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 32,177 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pitney Bowes were worth $5,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 344,829 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 149,944 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Pitney Bowes by 3,308.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 320,152 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after buying an additional 310,758 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the third quarter valued at about $3,442,000. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the third quarter valued at about $513,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 126.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 135,531 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 75,724 shares during the period. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul J. Evans acquired 29,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.80 per share, with a total value of $226,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,000 shares in the company, valued at $226,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lauren Freemen-Bosworth sold 42,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.12, for a total transaction of $343,540.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,551.68. This represents a 69.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Shares of PBI stock opened at $7.22 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.60 and a 200 day moving average of $6.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.97. Pitney Bowes Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.68 and a 1-year high of $8.80.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.08. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 12.85% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. The firm had revenue of $499.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.80 million. Analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is -9.17%.

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.