Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Boosts Stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $3,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,196,000 after buying an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in Morningstar by 102.1% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 492.7% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 735 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.5 %

MORN stock opened at $300.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.95. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $278.64 and a 52 week high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total value of $562,659.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,151,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,450,736.80. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar 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.