Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

MORN has been the subject of several other reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.9 %

MORN stock opened at $334.37 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $329.41 and a 200-day moving average of $311.69. The company has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59 and a beta of 1.18. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $269.51 and a twelve month high of $352.55. 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 (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 21.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.13, for a total value of $40,371.34. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,788,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,027,765.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.48, for a total value of $237,360.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,300,963.20. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,475 shares of company stock valued at $22,080,207 in the last 90 days. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 19.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 7.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% during the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 10,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,387,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 2,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. 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.