M&T Bank Corp Increases Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $3,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Morningstar by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Morningstar by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Morningstar by 3.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV increased its holdings in Morningstar by 2.2% in the third quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 2,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MORN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $290.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $323.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $329.66. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $281.37 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The company has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.40 and a beta of 1.23.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 21.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. This represents a 15.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.10, for a total value of $2,728,568.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,047,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,025,251,665.20. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 53,703 shares of company stock worth $17,349,106 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

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.