Insider Buying: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) CFO Purchases 1,000 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) CFO Michael Holt acquired 1,000 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $186.59 per share, with a total value of $186,590.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 9,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,873.20. This represents a 11.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock traded up $4.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $186.88. The company had a trading volume of 528,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,375. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.24. The stock has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 1.10. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.08 and a 12-month high of $316.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Morningstar by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $141,119,000 after acquiring an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at approximately $93,224,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 1,196.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 260,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after buying an additional 240,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 266.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,190,000 after purchasing an additional 204,277 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MORN shares. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

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.