Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $153.41, but opened at $162.15. Morningstar shares last traded at $160.67, with a volume of 47,432 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MORN. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.67.

Morningstar Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $176.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.49.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business 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, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total value of $401,154.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,043,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,445,906.24. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 12,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,046,732.30. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 31.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 11.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 183,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,033,000 after purchasing an additional 19,264 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 89,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,199,000 after purchasing an additional 32,296 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 29,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,974,000 after purchasing an additional 4,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.