Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 19,982 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Morningstar, Inc. by 363.9% in Q1, acquiring an additional 19,982 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 0.06% of the company.
• Morningstar recently reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a revenue close to estimates at $605.1 million.
• Analysts have differing opinions on Morningstar, with BMO Capital Markets raising its price target from $339.00 to $355.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded its rating from "buy" to "hold."

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 363.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,473 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,982 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP owned about 0.06% of Morningstar worth $7,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,294 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,874,000 after purchasing an additional 12,159 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,014 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $102,719,000 after purchasing an additional 13,155 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,077 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 9.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.08, for a total value of $1,871,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 9,347,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,412,397,896.48. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 59,351 shares of company stock worth $15,557,265 over the last three months. Insiders own 36.20% of the company's stock.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN stock traded up $5.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $263.82. 364,708 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 225,114. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $286.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.83. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $250.34 and a 12 month high of $365.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.10 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Morningstar's payout ratio is 19.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $361.67.

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.