Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $251.04 and last traded at $246.6960, with a volume of 5,397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $230.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.67.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.3%

The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $210.42 and its 200 day moving average is $187.43.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $672.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $664.75 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 45.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.67, for a total value of $1,752,107.50. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,587,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,075,263,548.93. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,408 shares of company stock worth $14,847,568. 38.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter worth about $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at approximately $324,792,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,514,000 after purchasing an additional 45,798 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 448,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $75,881,000 after purchasing an additional 125,100 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 394,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,763,000 after buying an additional 109,833 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. is a global provider of independent investment research, data, ratings and investment-management tools. The company serves individual investors, financial advisers, asset managers, retirement plan providers and institutions. Its offerings include investment and portfolio data, mutual fund and exchange-traded fund research, software for financial professionals, and wealth-management services. Morningstar also provides credit ratings through DBRS Morningstar and sustainability research through Sustainalytics.