Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Short Interest Update

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 461,000 shares, an increase of 289.4% from the October 31st total of 118,400 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 130,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MORN traded up $0.91 on Wednesday, hitting $355.65. 109,473 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 119,709. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar has a 1 year low of $269.51 and a 1 year high of $359.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $334.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.24.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total transaction of $233,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,344. This represents a 4.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.22, for a total value of $3,219,003.64. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,738,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,814,431,929.28. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,879 shares of company stock worth $21,672,132. 37.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 8.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar in the third quarter valued at approximately $565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $158,772,000 after buying an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.