Bank of America Corp DE Purchases 25,943 Shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,622 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,943 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.47% of Deluxe worth $4,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Deluxe in the 4th quarter valued at $220,326,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Deluxe by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,658 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $53,351,000 after buying an additional 177,534 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Deluxe during the 4th quarter worth about $3,210,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Deluxe by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 596,977 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,486,000 after acquiring an additional 118,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Deluxe by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 408,069 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,218,000 after acquiring an additional 103,989 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Deluxe

In other Deluxe news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 3,926 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.45 per share, with a total value of $64,582.70. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deluxe from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities dropped their target price on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Deluxe Trading Down 0.2%

Deluxe stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.29. 451,960 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,951. The firm has a market capitalization of $639.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.98. Deluxe Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.61 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The firm's 50 day moving average is $15.04 and its 200-day moving average is $18.76.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. 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 business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Deluxe's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.40%. 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.