Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $574,000 in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at about $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth about $324,792,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after purchasing an additional 47,360 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,644,000 after purchasing an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.6%

Morningstar stock opened at $218.94 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $263.67.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morningstar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 5,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.84, for a total value of $1,238,415.56. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 7,938,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,737,193,937.28. This represents a 0.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 86,500 shares of company stock worth $17,824,451 over the last 90 days. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.