Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires New Stake in Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB)

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,823 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dun & Bradstreet during the 3rd quarter worth about $176,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Dun & Bradstreet by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 67,502 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 11,753 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Dun & Bradstreet by 9.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,227,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $60,167,000 after purchasing an additional 468,027 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Dun & Bradstreet by 62.2% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 27,795 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Dun & Bradstreet in the third quarter worth $120,000. 86.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on DNB shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $9.15 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.86.

Insider Activity at Dun & Bradstreet

In other news, Chairman William P. Foley II sold 2,500,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.99, for a total transaction of $22,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 8,109,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,905,699.56. The trade was a 23.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Dun & Bradstreet Stock Performance

Shares of DNB traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.75. 13,861,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,035,798. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $8.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.88. Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.78 and a twelve month high of $12.95. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -145.73, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.14.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Dun & Bradstreet had a negative net margin of 1.20% and a positive return on equity of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $631.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.04 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Dun & Bradstreet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Dun & Bradstreet's dividend payout ratio is -333.33%.

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.