Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Short Interest Update

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,401,034 shares, an increase of 89.5% from the January 29th total of 739,347 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 939,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 939,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MORN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.5%

MORN stock opened at $183.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $195.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.91. Morningstar has a 52-week low of $149.08 and a 52-week high of $318.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Morningstar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,290,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,148,604 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,451,512. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,121 shares of company stock valued at $13,649,951. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 75.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 32.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 22,109 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 17.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 236,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,191,000 after purchasing an additional 35,561 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 24.2% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 70,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,251,000 after purchasing an additional 13,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Morningstar in the second quarter valued at $373,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.