Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on DNB. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Dun & Bradstreet from $12.80 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $9.15 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.86.

Dun & Bradstreet Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DNB opened at $9.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.77 and a 200 day moving average of $10.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -152.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.14. Dun & Bradstreet has a 12 month low of $7.78 and a 12 month high of $12.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.05). Dun & Bradstreet had a negative net margin of 1.20% and a positive return on equity of 11.29%. The company had revenue of $631.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.04 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dun & Bradstreet

In other news, Chairman William P. Foley II sold 2,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.99, for a total value of $22,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 8,109,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,905,699.56. This trade represents a 23.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Dun & Bradstreet by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,192,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,728,000 after buying an additional 705,707 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,209,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,065,000 after purchasing an additional 42,320 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 60,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 24,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

About Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc engages in providing business decisioning data and analytics solutions. The firm is involved in providing information with its solutions to support its clients with critical business operations. It offers end-to-end solutions to clients in the small business, finance, sales & marketing, third party risk & compliance, and public sectors.