Man Group plc Buys 3,113 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,618 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Morningstar were worth $5,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth $468,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Morningstar by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,014 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $102,719,000 after purchasing an additional 13,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ MORN traded down $2.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $304.12. 115,052 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 142,564. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $250.34 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $289.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $316.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 40.17 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $589.07 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. 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 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Morningstar's payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 5,103 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.08, for a total transaction of $1,582,338.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,437,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,926,419,690.24. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,983 shares of company stock valued at $19,940,225. 36.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.