Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

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

Morningstar Price Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $296.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $313.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $327.71. Morningstar has a 52-week low of $278.64 and a 52-week high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.12 and a beta of 1.23.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.455 dividend. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total transaction of $1,182,974.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,142,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,838,335.36. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097. Insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the third quarter worth about $58,000. 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.