IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Sells 98 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the third quarter worth about $58,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MORN. StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $302.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $313.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.77. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $278.64 and a 1-year high of $365.00.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total transaction of $1,182,974.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,142,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,838,335.36. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 in the last quarter. 39.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.