Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $360.67.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.0 %

Morningstar stock opened at $354.30 on Monday. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $269.51 and a twelve month high of $359.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $336.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $315.54. The stock has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.80 and a beta of 1.18. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total transaction of $248,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 8,056 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.95, for a total transaction of $2,464,733.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,517,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,217,754,779.15. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,298 shares of company stock worth $19,305,383 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MORN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 9.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,489,000 after buying an additional 102,206 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 0.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 950,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,327,000 after buying an additional 5,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,666,000 after buying an additional 28,698 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 13.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,115,000 after buying an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,772,000 after buying an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.