Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $311.16 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $328.15 and its 200 day moving average is $329.97. Morningstar has a 52 week low of $281.37 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The stock has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a PE ratio of 41.10 and a beta of 1.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The business had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.03, for a total transaction of $2,927,297.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,085,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,257,959,766.78. This trade represents a 0.09 % 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, 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. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,300,821. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,694,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth $56,584,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth $50,694,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Morningstar by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $363,903,000 after acquiring an additional 130,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $383,489,000 after acquiring an additional 102,206 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.