Northern Trust Corp Acquires 34,659 Shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 503,321 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 34,659 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.14% of Deluxe worth $11,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,326,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,552 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $118,836,000 after purchasing an additional 64,060 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,658 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,351,000 after purchasing an additional 177,534 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,280,259 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,288 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised 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 purchasing an additional 49,104 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deluxe Price Performance

NYSE DLX traded down $0.79 on Monday, hitting $15.16. 272,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,370. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.36 and a 200-day moving average of $19.20. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $13.70 and a 52 week high of $24.87. The stock has a market cap of $678.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $536.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.43 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.92%. Deluxe's dividend payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deluxe news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 3,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,398.95. The trade was a 1.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on DLX shares. TD Securities dropped their price target on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sidoti raised Deluxe to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Deluxe from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th.

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.