Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Increases Dividend to $0.46 Per Share

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.455 per share by the business services provider on Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41.

Morningstar has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Morningstar has a dividend payout ratio of 17.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $356.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $317.55. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $269.51 and a twelve month high of $361.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.04 and a beta of 1.19.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MORN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.22, for a total transaction of $3,219,003.64. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 10,738,224 shares in the company, valued at $3,814,431,929.28. The trade was a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total transaction of $248,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,188 shares of company stock valued at $16,823,772 over the last three months. 37.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.