Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Trading Up 7% – Time to Buy?

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)’s stock price traded up 7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $149.82 and last traded at $151.7010. Approximately 45,347 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 539,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MORN. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.00.

Morningstar Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $174.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.86.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,114,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,348,872,005.16. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MORN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Morningstar by 23.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 278.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2,450.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 138,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,615,000 after purchasing an additional 51,449 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.