Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Director William M. Lyons Sells 750 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total value of $248,910.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ MORN opened at $330.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.62 and a beta of 1.19. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $247.16 and a 12 month high of $349.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $322.48 and a 200-day moving average of $307.62.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). Morningstar had a return on equity of 22.34% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Scout Investments Inc. increased its position in Morningstar by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 42,549 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,034,000 after purchasing an additional 18,345 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 506.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,071,000 after acquiring an additional 11,024 shares during the period. M&G Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 173,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 291,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the 1st quarter valued at $1,207,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Company Profile

Morningstar, Inc provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement.