Short Interest in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Increases By 34.8%

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN – Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 308,700 shares, an increase of 34.8% from the April 15th total of 229,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Separately, StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 13th.

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.85, for a total value of $2,688,933.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 4,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.14, for a total value of $1,241,421.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 202,363 shares of company stock worth $53,841,673. 41.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,850,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,658,750,000 after purchasing an additional 688,048 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $128,670,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,278,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Morningstar by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 733,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,402,000 after purchasing an additional 157,262 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morningstar by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,403,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $656,482,000 after acquiring an additional 129,956 shares in the last quarter. 54.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MORN traded up $3.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $241.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 158,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 170,680. Morningstar has a twelve month low of $229.33 and a twelve month high of $350.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $266.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.19. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 56.84 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 24th. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $462.20 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 19.08%.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 30th. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 33.88%.

About Morningstar (Get Rating)

Morningstar, Inc provides independent investment research services in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers web-based tools; investment data, fundamental equity and manager research, private capital markets research, credit and fund rating, and index, as well as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating services; and investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed and private companies, fixed income securities, and real-time global market data for financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and individual and institutional investors.

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