Aurora Investment Counsel Has $2.09 Million Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 151.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Morningstar by 23.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 54.2% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Morningstar by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,114,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,348,872,005.16. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 in the last ninety days. 38.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $175.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $177.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.89. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.08 and a 1 year high of $316.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Morningstar Profile

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.