Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

MORN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.67.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $321.05 on Tuesday. 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 $13.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.41 and a beta of 1.20. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $269.51 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $343.96 and a 200-day moving average of $325.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released 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 return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar 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 transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total value of $248,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,661 shares of company stock worth $17,723,744 in the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 101.7% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 93.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. 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.