Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target Cut to $193.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) had its price target lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $257.00 to $193.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MORN. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on Morningstar in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.50.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.1%

MORN opened at $158.31 on Tuesday. Morningstar has a fifty-two week low of $149.08 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $202.32 and its 200 day moving average is $222.56.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 600 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.48, for a total transaction of $131,088.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $818,207.60. This trade represents a 13.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.89, for a total transaction of $1,528,952.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,609,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,815,692,673.63. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 48,574 shares of company stock valued at $8,588,584 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 106.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,119,000 after buying an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,224,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 266.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,190,000 after acquiring an additional 204,277 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Morningstar by 22,716.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 162,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,512,000 after acquiring an additional 161,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 187,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,416,000 after purchasing an additional 146,693 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.