Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

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

Morningstar Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MORN traded down $5.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $337.57. 128,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 118,571. The company has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59 and a beta of 1.18. Morningstar has a 52-week low of $264.79 and a 52-week high of $352.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $329.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $311.32.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In related news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.48, for a total value of $237,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,300,963.20. The trade was a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,838 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.90, for a total transaction of $1,212,424.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,581,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,342,578,967. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,252,260 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 10,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 80.2% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 2,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.