Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.46

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 20th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be given a dividend of 0.455 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th.

Morningstar has a payout ratio of 17.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $303.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $305.17 and its 200-day moving average is $306.97. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $250.34 and a 1-year high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $581.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.07 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 16.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.25, for a total transaction of $2,155,062.50. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 9,495,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,822,598,311.25. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 53,569 shares of company stock worth $16,333,474 over the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Morningstar

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.