StockNews.com Downgrades Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MORN. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:MORN traded up $6.13 on Thursday, reaching $349.40. 78,801 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 115,358. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $325.34 and its 200-day moving average is $309.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $259.50 and a 1-year high of $350.68.

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

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 5,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.30, for a total transaction of $1,571,989.70. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,610,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,239,402,441.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 5,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.30, for a total transaction of $1,571,989.70. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,610,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,239,402,441.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total value of $233,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,492 shares of company stock worth $19,430,128 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 33,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,820,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,181,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $106,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 1,274,200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after acquiring an additional 12,742 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Morningstar by 120.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 7,579 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Morningstar

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.