Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded 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, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ MORN opened at $346.21 on Friday. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $269.51 and a 1-year 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 45.73 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $332.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.97.

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 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 announced 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 21.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.05, for a total value of $1,342,766.25. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,791,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,788,313,949. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total value of $233,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,344. This represents a 4.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,541 shares of company stock valued at $20,234,838 over the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 326.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 101.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.