Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Position Trimmed by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 191,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,271 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $61,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 154.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 320,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,727,000 after acquiring an additional 194,122 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,293,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC bought a new position in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth $19,666,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the second quarter worth $9,366,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Morningstar in the first quarter valued at $9,070,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.7 %

MORN stock opened at $342.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $328.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.72. The company has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.31 and a beta of 1.18. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $264.79 and a 52 week high of $352.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total transaction of $233,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,344. The trade was a 4.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.12, for a total transaction of $1,937,953.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,574,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,577,548.84. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,195 shares of company stock worth $23,252,260. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Morningstar

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.