Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 5,782 Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,782 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,734,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 172.3% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 177 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 271 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.84, for a total transaction of $61,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,346,254.80. The trade was a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.25, for a total transaction of $2,155,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,495,705 shares in the company, valued at $2,822,598,311.25. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,569 shares of company stock worth $16,333,474. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $313.01. The company had a trading volume of 836,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,604. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 1.02. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $250.34 and a 52-week high of $365.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $309.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $581.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.07 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 16.60%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Morningstar's payout ratio is 20.45%.

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.