D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases New Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,481 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MORN. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 467 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total transaction of $2,557,749.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,038,270 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,301,707.50. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.84, for a total value of $61,968.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,346,254.80. The trade was a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,695 shares of company stock worth $21,620,366 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 36.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MORN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.1%

MORN traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $306.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 193,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,321. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $290.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a PE ratio of 40.46 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $250.34 and a twelve month high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $581.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.07 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Morningstar's payout ratio is 20.45%.

About Morningstar

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.