19,400 Shares in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Bought by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired 19,400 shares of Morningstar, Inc. for approximately $5.8 million in the first quarter, marking a significant new investment in the company.
• Morningstar reported a Q2 earnings per share of $2.40, exceeding analyst expectations, although its revenue fell short of forecasts.
• Insider selling activity was noted, with Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto selling over 6,700 shares, reducing his ownership slightly but he still holds a substantial stake valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,400 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,817,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 30,785.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 144,237 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $43,252,000 after buying an additional 143,770 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 1st quarter worth $38,269,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,203,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 230,149 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $77,505,000 after purchasing an additional 36,133 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 134.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 44,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,344,000 after purchasing an additional 25,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.65, for a total transaction of $1,747,658.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 9,312,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,427,390,703.40. The trade was a 0.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 85,500 shares of company stock worth $22,341,957. Insiders own 36.20% of the company's stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $257.24. The company had a trading volume of 249,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,556. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $250.34 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The firm has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $276.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.90.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.19. Morningstar had a net margin of 17.22% and a return on equity of 23.54%. The business had revenue of $605.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $605.84 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $361.67.

Morningstar Company 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.