Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Has $5.32 Million Stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $5,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morningstar by 178.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MORN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total transaction of $2,962,005.32. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 10,109,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,429,412.62. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 over the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MORN opened at $301.88 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $311.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $327.70. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $278.64 and a 12 month high of $365.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 39.88 and a beta of 1.23. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 21.24%.

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.