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 report published on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $321.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $343.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $325.00. Morningstar has a 1 year low of $269.51 and a 1 year high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.22, for a total transaction of $2,974,329.64. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,845,718 shares in the company, valued at $3,559,781,561.96. The trade was a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,661 shares of company stock worth $17,723,744. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morningstar by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,196,000 after acquiring an additional 5,045 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Morningstar by 259.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 9,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.