Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

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

Morningstar Price Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $210.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $214.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Morningstar has a 1 year low of $202.89 and a 1 year high of $335.21.

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

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 22.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.95, for a total value of $1,536,637.50. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,693,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,842,601,101.75. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 64,350 shares of company stock valued at $13,668,311 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Morningstar by 0.3% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 13,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 28.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 7.4% in the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.