Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 175,087 Shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 624,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 175,087 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $14,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,695,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,038,000 after buying an additional 18,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,028,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,041,000 after buying an additional 17,583 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 231,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,232,000 after buying an additional 11,233 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 214,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 16.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 186,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after buying an additional 26,473 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 15th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.45 per share, with a total value of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of DLX opened at $16.23 on Friday. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $15.13 and a one year high of $24.87. The company has a market cap of $725.62 million, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.43.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. Research analysts forecast that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.40%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.69%.

Deluxe Company 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.