Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,820 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $192.57 on Monday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.49 and a 12-month high of $279.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The company had revenue of $663.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MORN. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $125,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,904 shares in the company, valued at $2,488,816. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.84, for a total transaction of $1,274,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,066,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,418,499,521.60. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,220 shares of company stock valued at $8,697,294. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

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.