Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Director Sells $61,968.00 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.84, for a total value of $61,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,346,254.80. The trade was a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN traded up $1.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $310.65. The company had a trading volume of 218,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,811. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a PE ratio of 41.04 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $317.10. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $250.34 and a 1-year high of $365.00.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 178.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the first quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

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.