Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $311.16 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $328.15 and its 200 day moving average is $329.97. Morningstar has a one year low of $281.37 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.10 and a beta of 1.20.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.57, for a total value of $410,329.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,130,378 shares in the company, valued at $3,247,495,275.46. This represents a 0.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,300,821. Company insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morningstar by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,196,000 after acquiring an additional 5,045 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Morningstar by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 259.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 9,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,181,000. 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.