Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,159 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.34% of Morningstar worth $32,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $196,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 21.3% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,003,000 after buying an additional 68,896 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 34.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 318,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,891,000 after buying an additional 82,154 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter valued at approximately $93,224,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 691.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,286,000 after acquiring an additional 256,806 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $1,173,241.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,184,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,314,629,973.56. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 82,121 shares of company stock worth $13,649,951 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MORN stock opened at $183.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.08 and a fifty-two week high of $318.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $195.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.32. The stock has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.10.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Company Profile

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.