Norden Group LLC Sells 48 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Norden Group LLC reduced its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,489,000 after purchasing an additional 102,206 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 0.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 950,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,327,000 after purchasing an additional 5,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,666,000 after purchasing an additional 28,698 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 13.9% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 4,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.46, for a total value of $1,319,716.80. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 10,072,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,192,525.48. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. This represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,641 shares of company stock valued at $14,620,537 over the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $313.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $327.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $330.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $281.37 and a 1 year high of $365.00.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

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.