Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Up 7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) traded up 7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $149.82 and last traded at $151.7010. 45,347 shares traded 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Morningstar Trading Up 7.9%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.07. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $125,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total transaction of $44,833.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,732.30. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 278.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 2,450.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 58.8% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 138,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,615,000 after purchasing an additional 51,449 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.