Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Shares Bought by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 168,640 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,193 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.38% of Deluxe worth $3,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC now owns 19,540 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Deluxe by 12,576.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 19,648 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 19,493 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Deluxe by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 766,490 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,315,000 after acquiring an additional 49,104 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Deluxe in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth $993,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DLX shares. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Sidoti upgraded Deluxe to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DLX traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.08. The stock had a trading volume of 584,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,304. The firm has a market cap of $674.33 million, a PE ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.41. 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 50 day moving average of $15.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.46. Deluxe Co. has a twelve month low of $13.70 and a twelve month high of $24.87.

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

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. 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.