UBS Group AG Has $64.18 Million Stock Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• UBS Group AG boosted its Morningstar stake by 88.4% in Q4 to 295,347 shares (0.72% ownership) valued at $64.18 million.
• Morningstar beat expectations for the quarter, reporting EPS of $3.18 versus $2.41 expected and revenue of $644.8M versus $626.9M, with a 33.14% ROE and 16.06% net margin.
• Market view and ownership: the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target of $236.50, institutional investors own about 57% of the stock, insiders own 38.8% and have sold roughly 99,143 shares in the past 90 days.

UBS Group AG grew its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 88.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 295,347 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 138,605 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned 0.72% of Morningstar worth $64,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $328,133,000 after buying an additional 118,979 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 106.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $141,119,000 after acquiring an additional 314,275 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 26.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 420,127 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $97,482,000 after acquiring an additional 88,496 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 34.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 318,478 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $73,891,000 after acquiring an additional 82,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 5.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 296,302 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $68,745,000 after purchasing an additional 15,379 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $167.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $176.71 and its 200-day moving average is $196.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $316.71.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, CFO Michael Holt bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $186.59 per share, with a total value of $186,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,873.20. The trade was a 11.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total value of $1,232,282.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,128,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,381,684,770.24. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,143 shares of company stock worth $16,560,243. 38.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morningstar Company 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.

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