StockNews.com Upgrades Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) to Buy

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

Morningstar Stock Up 0.8 %

MORN opened at $313.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $327.62 and its 200 day moving average is $330.17. Morningstar has a fifty-two week low of $281.37 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,106,235.52. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 4,080 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.46, for a total transaction of $1,319,716.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,072,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,258,192,525.48. This represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,641 shares of company stock valued at $14,620,537 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $111,694,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $56,584,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $50,694,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 102,206 shares in 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.