Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $293.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73 and a beta of 1.16. Morningstar has a 52-week low of $250.34 and a 52-week high of $365.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $287.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $319.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The company had revenue of $581.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.07 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total value of $2,557,749.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,038,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,301,707.50. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,828 shares of company stock valued at $18,207,438. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,694,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $56,584,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $50,694,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 30,785.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 144,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,252,000 after purchasing an additional 143,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.