Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $210.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99 and a beta of 1.08. Morningstar has a 12 month low of $202.89 and a 12 month high of $335.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $214.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.22.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $617.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $603.29 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $274,072.32. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,600,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,005,692.80. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 600 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.48, for a total transaction of $131,088.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $818,207.60. This represents a 13.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,350 shares of company stock valued at $13,668,311. 36.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morningstar by 106.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $141,119,000 after acquiring an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,224,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 266.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,190,000 after purchasing an additional 204,277 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 22,716.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 162,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,512,000 after purchasing an additional 161,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 362.8% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 187,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,416,000 after buying an additional 146,693 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.