BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock Price

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) had its target price cut by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $257.00 to $193.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.83% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on Morningstar in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $161.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Morningstar has a 1 year low of $149.08 and a 1 year high of $330.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.08.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.The firm had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.21, for a total value of $1,132,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,198,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,280,649,101.13. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.48, for a total value of $131,088.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $818,207.60. This represents a 13.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 48,574 shares of company stock worth $8,588,584 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 120.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.