Bryce Point Capital LLC Makes New $1.01 Million Investment in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,116,000 after purchasing an additional 64,020 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Morningstar by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 34,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Morningstar by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total transaction of $562,659.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,151,120 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,450,736.80. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $301.88 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $311.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $327.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 39.88 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $278.64 and a 1 year high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Company 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.