Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,803,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,598 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Morningstar worth $944,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 5,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,715,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 228.4% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 4,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,886,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Morningstar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Morningstar Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $296.11 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $278.64 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.71.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total value of $2,962,005.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,109,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,429,412.62. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. Insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

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.