Sei Investments Co. Increases Stake in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• Sei Investments increased its Morningstar stake by 219.4% in the first quarter, holding 189,302 shares worth approximately $32 million. Institutional investors collectively own 57.02% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Morningstar receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $227.33, despite UBS lowering its target to $260.
• Morningstar exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.18 versus the $2.41 consensus and revenue of $644.8 million versus estimates of $626.91 million. The stock recently opened at $182.43, well below its 12-month high of $289.63.

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 219.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,302 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 130,035 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.50% of Morningstar worth $32,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total transaction of $401,154.40. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,043,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,445,906.24. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $125,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,488,816. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471 in the last three months. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $182.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $170.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.63. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $289.63.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.The firm had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $626.91 million.

About Morningstar

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MORN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report).

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.