Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) Stock Rating Lowered by Raymond James

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) was downgraded by Raymond James from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Dun & Bradstreet from $12.80 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $9.15 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.86.

Dun & Bradstreet Trading Up 0.3%

DNB stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.07. The company had a trading volume of 4,728,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,306,908. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.93 and a 200 day moving average of $10.10. Dun & Bradstreet has a 12 month low of $7.78 and a 12 month high of $12.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of -151.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.12. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Dun & Bradstreet had a negative net margin of 1.20% and a positive return on equity of 11.29%. The firm had revenue of $579.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Dun & Bradstreet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 2.3% in 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 11.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,006,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,575,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $156,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,940 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 9,213,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $114,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,472 shares during the period. Finally, Crescent Grove Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $59,702,000 after buying an additional 498,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.