Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases Shares of 13,602 Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP initiated a Morningstar position by purchasing 13,602 shares valued at approximately $2.12 million. Institutional investors collectively own 57.02% of the company.
• Morningstar exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.10 in earnings per share versus the $2.83 consensus estimate and revenue of $663.2 million, above forecasts of $649.72 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $227.33; shares recently opened at $217.50.

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,602 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,122,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 11.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 183,575 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,033,000 after buying an additional 19,264 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,534,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 176.5% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 35,185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,629,000 after acquiring an additional 22,459 shares during the period. Fluent Financial LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 150.0% in the second quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 14,362 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,241,000 after buying an additional 8,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the 1st quarter worth about $3,576,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $217.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.78. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.49 and a 52 week high of $265.73.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 38.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.33.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total transaction of $1,662,315.56. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 7,960,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,789,448.20. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 87,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,949,751 over the last 90 days. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Profile

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar's proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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