Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN traded down $5.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $263.08. 11,501 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 161,653. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $309.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $327.24. 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 has a twelve month low of $251.53 and a twelve month high of $365.00. The company has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 1.16.

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

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Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.24%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total value of $562,659.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,151,120 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,450,736.80. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 184.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 811 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $915,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 10.9% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 9,658 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

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.