Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Bought by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 14,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,996,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 10,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 115.2% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 56,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,071,000 after purchasing an additional 30,320 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MORN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total transaction of $562,659.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,151,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,450,736.80. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 over the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ MORN opened at $298.12 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $278.64 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $315.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.10.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.24%.

Morningstar 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.