Morningstar (MORN) Set to Announce Earnings on Wednesday

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) is scheduled to release its earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $538.70 million for the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 18.54%.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $297.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 90.55 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $298.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.27. Morningstar has a 1 year low of $163.28 and a 1 year high of $316.05.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised Morningstar from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Director Steven N. Kaplan sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.81, for a total transaction of $383,512.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,427 shares in the company, valued at $13,630,647.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morningstar news, Director Steven N. Kaplan sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.81, for a total value of $383,512.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,427 shares in the company, valued at $13,630,647.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.39, for a total value of $1,935,055.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,934,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,125,738.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,544 shares of company stock worth $27,733,515 over the last 90 days. 37.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. O Dell Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 10,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 31,492 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,014,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.