Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.15 EPS

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15, Zacks reports. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Price Performance

Morningstar stock traded down $3.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $319.96. The stock had a trading volume of 163,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,584. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $281.37 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $329.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.18.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total value of $2,962,005.32. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 10,109,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,429,412.62. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,499 shares of company stock worth $10,373,523 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th.

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.