Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Short Interest Update

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 550,200 shares, an increase of 26.1% from the April 30th total of 436,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 208,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,246 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.52, for a total value of $381,923.92. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,427,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,820,290.72. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.84, for a total value of $61,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,346,254.80. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,633 shares of company stock worth $18,891,798. 36.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MORN. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 19.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Morningstar by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its position in Morningstar by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 4,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.6%

Morningstar stock opened at $310.12 on Thursday. 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 has a one year low of $250.34 and a one year high of $365.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 40.97 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $291.24 and its 200 day moving average is $314.39.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.13. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $581.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.07 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

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.