Commerce Bank Lowers Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Commerce Bank lessened its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,166 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,018 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Morningstar were worth $3,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Morningstar by 21.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 19.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,286,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar during the third quarter valued at $565,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,982,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN traded up $0.92 on Friday, reaching $280.63. 123,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 133,693. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $250.34 and a 52 week 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $291.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $321.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 1.16.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $591.00 million during 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 0.65%. Morningstar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total transaction of $562,659.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,151,120 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,450,736.80. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company's stock.

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.