Dearborn Partners LLC Acquires 272 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,196,000 after buying an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Morningstar by 259.3% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 9,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MORN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.10, for a total transaction of $2,728,568.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,047,332 shares in the company, valued at $3,025,251,665.20. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. This represents a 15.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,703 shares of company stock worth $17,349,106. Insiders own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN stock opened at $284.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57 and a beta of 1.23. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $278.64 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $329.38.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million.

About Morningstar

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.