BMO Capital Markets Lowers Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target to $193.00

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $257.00 to $193.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.59% from the company’s previous close.

MORN has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.50.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $162.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.08. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.09, for a total value of $1,071,789.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,184,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,302,107,900.25. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 600 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction 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 trade represents a 13.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 55,365 shares of company stock worth $9,304,662 in the last 90 days. 36.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in Morningstar by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.