Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MORN. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.7 %

MORN opened at $340.32 on Friday. Morningstar has a one year low of $269.51 and a one year high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.96 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $344.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $321.21.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total value of $248,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,411 shares of company stock worth $17,961,104 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,489,000 after buying an additional 102,206 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 950,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,327,000 after acquiring an additional 5,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Morningstar by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,666,000 after acquiring an additional 28,698 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Morningstar by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after acquiring an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morningstar by 2.1% during the 3rd 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. 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.