Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Shares Purchased by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 50.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 136,493 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,645 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.31% of Deluxe worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DLX. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Deluxe by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 13,019 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 503,321 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,370,000 after acquiring an additional 34,659 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC bought a new position in shares of Deluxe in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 142.3% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 36,224 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 21,275 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DLX has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Sidoti raised shares of Deluxe to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 3,926 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, with a total value of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Deluxe Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DLX traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.30. 44,517 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 289,933. The business's fifty day moving average is $15.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.31. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $13.70 and a one year high of $24.87. The stock has a market cap of $729.26 million, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $536.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $525.43 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.36%. Deluxe's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.00%.

Deluxe Profile

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.