Ieq Capital LLC Makes New $8.41 Million Investment in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 53,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,411,000. Ieq Capital LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Morningstar as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $324,792,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Morningstar by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morningstar by 106.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $141,119,000 after purchasing an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth $62,367,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 1,196.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 260,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,713,000 after purchasing an additional 240,848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total transaction of $1,662,315.56. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 7,960,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,789,448.20. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 81,541 shares of company stock valued at $16,711,335. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $215.97 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.49 and a 12-month high of $266.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.72 million.

About Morningstar

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.