Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Releases Earnings Results

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, reports. Morningstar had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 10.13%. The business had revenue of $542.80 million for the quarter.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $286.29. The company had a trading volume of 110,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,408. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.84 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $301.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Morningstar has a 52-week low of $163.28 and a 52-week high of $316.05.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 32.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.39, for a total transaction of $1,935,055.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,934,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,125,738.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.39, for a total transaction of $1,935,055.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,934,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,125,738.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.69, for a total value of $399,073.93. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,775,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,521,594.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,544 shares of company stock worth $27,733,515. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its stake in Morningstar by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 2,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Morningstar by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 11,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. TheStreet upgraded Morningstar from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th.

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.