BMO Capital Markets Lowers Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target to $193.00

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) had its price target cut by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $257.00 to $193.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.83% from the stock’s current price.

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

Morningstar Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $161.06 on Tuesday. Morningstar has a 52 week low of $149.08 and a 52 week high of $330.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $203.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.36. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.48, for a total value of $131,088.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,574 shares of company stock worth $8,588,584. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $1,369,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,134,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 37,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,115,000 after acquiring an additional 17,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 5,047 shares in the last quarter. 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.