Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 8,000 Shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DLX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Deluxe in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,739,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Deluxe by 81.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 462,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,013,000 after purchasing an additional 207,221 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Deluxe by 17.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,262,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,194,000 after purchasing an additional 188,788 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 222.1% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 248,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after buying an additional 171,327 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 2.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,228,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $126,361,000 after buying an additional 143,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 2,666 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.25 per share, for a total transaction of $51,320.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 173,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,338,142.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Down 2.2 %

Deluxe stock opened at $18.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $818.90 million, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.48. Deluxe Co. has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $21.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.74 and a 200-day moving average of $19.32.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.80 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 21.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deluxe Co. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.39%.

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.