Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15, Zacks reports. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Stock Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ MORN opened at $311.16 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $328.15 and a 200-day moving average of $329.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.10 and a beta of 1.20. Morningstar has a 52 week low of $281.37 and a 52 week 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.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.03, for a total value of $2,927,297.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,085,626 shares in the company, valued at $3,257,959,766.78. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,300,821. Company insiders own 39.90% 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.