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

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

Morningstar Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $325.02 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $333.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $329.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.20. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $269.51 and a twelve month high of $365.00.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.57, for a total value of $410,329.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,130,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,247,495,275.46. The trade was a 0.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,878,540 in the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MORN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 98,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,116,000 after acquiring an additional 9,658 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 795.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 20,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,937,000 after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $12,203,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 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.