Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other research firms have also commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $342.99 on Friday. Morningstar has a fifty-two week low of $264.79 and a fifty-two week high of $352.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 45.31 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $328.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.72.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.94, for a total transaction of $225,629.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,532,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,295,963,253.82. The trade was a 0.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total transaction of $233,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,344. This represents a 4.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,252,260. Company insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. M&G Plc boosted its stake in Morningstar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 173,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,207,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Morningstar by 295.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,366,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 17,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.