Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Morningstar beat quarterly expectations: The company reported earnings of $3.10 per share, exceeding the $2.83 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $663.20 million versus expectations of $649.72 million.
• Shares rose 2.3%: Morningstar stock reached $198.66 in midday trading, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.56 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: The stock carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $227.33, despite UBS lowering its target to $260.00. Insiders sold $11.17 million of shares over the past quarter.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27, FiscalAI reports. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%. The company had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million.

Morningstar Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of MORN traded up $4.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $198.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,035,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,482. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 1.01. Morningstar has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $289.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,114,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,348,872,005.16. The trade was a 0.09% 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. Insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 over the last quarter. 38.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth about $282,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 1,352.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at $235,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new position in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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