Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15, Zacks reports. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN traded down $3.25 on Wednesday, reaching $319.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 163,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,585. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.27 and a beta of 1.20. Morningstar has a 52-week low of $281.37 and a 52-week high of $365.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $329.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.03, for a total value of $2,927,297.86. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,085,626 shares in the company, valued at $3,257,959,766.78. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,300,821 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 39.90% 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.