Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Trading 7% Higher – Time to Buy?

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) shares rose 7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $149.82 and last traded at $151.7010. Approximately 45,347 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 539,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.00.

Morningstar Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.07. The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total transaction of $44,833.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,046,732.30. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total value of $125,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,488,816. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors 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.