17,382 Shares in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Acquired by Berkeley Inc

Key Points

• Berkeley Inc opened a new position in Morningstar, buying 17,382 shares in Q4 valued at about $3.78 million, while other large institutions (Bamco, AQR, Dimensional, JPMorgan, Invesco) also materially increased holdings, leaving institutional ownership at 57.02%.
• Insider activity was mixed: Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,122 shares at $182.32, while CFO Michael Holt bought 1,000 shares at $186.59, and corporate insiders collectively own 38.80% of the stock.
• Morningstar beat estimates for the quarter (EPS $2.71 vs. $2.34; revenue $641.1M) but analyst sentiment is mixed — a consensus "Hold" with an average target of $236.50, ranges from UBS's $280 down to BMO's $193 and a sell from Weiss Ratings.

Berkeley Inc bought a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,382 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,777,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in Morningstar by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $328,133,000 after purchasing an additional 118,979 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $141,119,000 after acquiring an additional 314,275 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Morningstar by 26.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 420,127 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $97,482,000 after acquiring an additional 88,496 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Morningstar by 34.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 318,478 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,891,000 after acquiring an additional 82,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Morningstar by 5.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 296,302 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $68,745,000 after acquiring an additional 15,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total transaction of $569,203.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,138,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,483,762,458.24. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Holt purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $186.59 per share, with a total value of $186,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,768,873.20. This represents a 11.79% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 84,643 shares of company stock valued at $14,088,066 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Morningstar has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $180.52 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.08 and a 52-week high of $316.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $172.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.80.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.