Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,811 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.43% of Deluxe worth $4,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DLX. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Deluxe in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 231.9% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 5,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,785 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Deluxe

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.57 per share, for a total transaction of $53,975.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,265,227.20. This represents a 1.28 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Up 1.5 %

DLX opened at $16.46 on Friday. Deluxe Co. has a 1 year low of $16.01 and a 1 year high of $24.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $731.33 million, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.52.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. Sell-side analysts expect that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.29%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

About Deluxe

Deluxe Corporation provides technology-enabled solutions to enterprises, small businesses, and financial institutions in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It operates through Merchant Services, B2B Payments, Data Solutions, and Print segments. The Merchant Services offers credit and debit card authorization and payment systems, as well as processing services primarily to small and medium-sized retail and service businesses.