State Street Corp Buys 28,698 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

State Street Corp boosted its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,698 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 1.88% of Morningstar worth $256,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 326.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 101.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $357.57 on Wednesday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $269.51 and a 1 year high of $362.01. The firm has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a PE ratio of 47.24 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $341.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $317.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.13, for a total value of $40,371.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,788,378 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,027,765.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total value of $248,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,188 shares of company stock valued at $16,823,772. 37.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Company 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.