Traders Buy Large Volume of Dun & Bradstreet Call Options (NYSE:DNB)

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 5,825 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 488% compared to the typical volume of 991 call options.

Institutional Trading of Dun & Bradstreet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DNB. Azora Capital LP increased its position in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 119.8% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 7,973,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,773,000 after acquiring an additional 4,346,033 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Dun & Bradstreet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,016,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Dun & Bradstreet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,817,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Dun & Bradstreet by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,465,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $131,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,220 shares during the period. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet in the fourth quarter valued at $17,018,000. 86.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dun & Bradstreet Trading Down 0.3 %

Dun & Bradstreet stock opened at $8.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -149.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.19. Dun & Bradstreet has a 1 year low of $7.78 and a 1 year high of $12.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $631.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $658.04 million. Dun & Bradstreet had a positive return on equity of 11.29% and a negative net margin of 1.20%. On average, research analysts predict that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dun & Bradstreet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Dun & Bradstreet’s payout ratio is presently -333.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DNB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $9.15 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Dun & Bradstreet from $12.80 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.86.

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.