Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Short Interest Down 32.6% in September

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 721,300 shares, a decrease of 32.6% from the September 15th total of 1,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 395,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 395,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.00.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.50, for a total transaction of $1,859,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 9,373,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,404,219,387.50. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 85,500 shares of company stock worth $22,341,957. Corporate insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,839,000 after acquiring an additional 11,408 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 88.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 540,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $162,168,000 after purchasing an additional 253,137 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 21.3% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,003,000 after purchasing an additional 68,896 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth approximately $93,224,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 691.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,286,000 after purchasing an additional 256,806 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.7%

Morningstar stock opened at $219.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $210.02 and a twelve month high of $365.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $605.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $605.84 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 17.22% and a return on equity of 23.54%.

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.