Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB) Short Interest Up 18.1% in May

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,270,000 shares, a growth of 18.1% from the April 30th total of 18,850,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 14,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Dun & Bradstreet Stock Up 0.2%

DNB stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.03. The company had a trading volume of 4,907,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,171,718. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.22. Dun & Bradstreet has a 1 year low of $7.78 and a 1 year high of $12.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -150.39, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.12. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $579.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.02 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Chinh Chu sold 10,885,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.95, for a total value of $97,424,356.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $213,099.50. This represents a 99.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total value of $22,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 5,609,644 shares in the company, valued at $50,262,410.24. This trade represents a 30.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,885,403 shares of company stock valued at $142,299,357 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dun & Bradstreet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DNB. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Dun & Bradstreet by 7,875.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 32,299 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 31,894 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dun & Bradstreet during the fourth quarter valued at about $323,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Dun & Bradstreet by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,075,848 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,785,000 after purchasing an additional 99,795 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Dun & Bradstreet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,657,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,655,000 after acquiring an additional 141,054 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet during the fourth quarter worth $709,000. 86.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DNB. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $9.15 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.86.

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.