Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Separately, Sidoti raised shares of Pitney Bowes to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

PBI opened at $9.40 on Thursday. Pitney Bowes has a 1-year low of $4.62 and a 1-year high of $11.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.44.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $493.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.99 million. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 20.95% and a negative net margin of 7.71%. Pitney Bowes’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Pitney Bowes will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,650.35. The trade was a 42.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total transaction of $834,518.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 606,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,463,040.74. This represents a 11.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 691,529 shares of company stock worth $7,442,109 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. James J. Burns & Company LLC raised its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 18,587 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 14.6% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Pitney Bowes by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Pitney Bowes by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 20,677 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 2,020 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Pitney Bowes by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 102,197 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

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.