Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.46

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of 0.455 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41.

Morningstar has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Morningstar has a dividend payout ratio of 17.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock traded up $0.95 on Friday, reaching $358.02. 101,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 119,686. 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’s 50-day moving average is $339.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.87. The firm has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.29 and a beta of 1.19. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $269.51 and a 1-year high of $361.73.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The company had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 8,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.95, for a total transaction of $2,464,733.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,517,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,217,754,779.15. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.48, for a total value of $237,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,300,963.20. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,244 shares of company stock valued at $19,288,505 in the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.