Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $352.80 and last traded at $351.26, with a volume of 67397 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $346.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.9 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $332.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.73 and a beta of 1.18.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.40%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 5,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.27, for a total value of $1,781,709.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,551,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,284,364,782.46. This trade represents a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total transaction of $233,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,344. The trade was a 4.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,541 shares of company stock valued at $20,234,838. 37.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 154.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 320,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,727,000 after purchasing an additional 194,122 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 102,206 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 13.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after buying an additional 85,098 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the third quarter worth about $19,666,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 10.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 400,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $127,814,000 after acquiring an additional 39,263 shares in the last quarter. 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.