Raymond James Downgrades Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) to Hold

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) was downgraded by research analysts at Raymond James from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DNB. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $9.15 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.86.

Dun & Bradstreet Stock Performance

Shares of Dun & Bradstreet stock opened at $9.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -150.81, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.93 and its 200 day moving average is $10.13. Dun & Bradstreet has a 1 year low of $7.78 and a 1 year high of $12.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $579.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.02 million. Dun & Bradstreet had a negative net margin of 1.20% and a positive return on equity of 11.29%. Dun & Bradstreet’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Dun & Bradstreet

In other news, Director Chinh Chu sold 10,885,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.95, for a total transaction of $97,424,356.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,099.50. This trade represents a 99.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William P. Foley II sold 2,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total value of $22,400,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 5,609,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,262,410.24. This represents a 30.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,885,403 shares of company stock worth $142,299,357. 10.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dun & Bradstreet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 57,773,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $719,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,959 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 11.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,628,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $175,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,575,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $156,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,940 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 9,213,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $114,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,472 shares during the period. Finally, Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 8.1% during the first quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 6,678,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,702,000 after purchasing an additional 498,558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

Dun & Bradstreet Company Profile

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.