Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 5,869 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 690,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,869 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $232,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 178.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Morningstar by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total value of $562,659.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,151,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,450,736.80. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $284.24 on Wednesday. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $250.34 and a twelve month high of $365.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.08.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.24%.

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.