Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Short Interest Up 24.4% in March

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 697,600 shares, a growth of 24.4% from the February 28th total of 560,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 152,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total transaction of $2,962,005.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,109,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,429,412.62. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,772,000 after acquiring an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $468,000. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 194.9% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,276 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Morningstar by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 19.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company's stock.

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Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN traded down $22.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $268.76. The stock had a trading volume of 193,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,741. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $268.31 and a twelve month high of $365.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $309.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $327.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MORN has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday.

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.