Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 220.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,871 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth $29,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $189.86 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.08 and a 52 week high of $316.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.52 and a 200-day moving average of $215.85.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MORN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.50.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total transaction of $569,203.04. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,138,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,483,762,458.24. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Holt purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $186.59 per share, with a total value of $186,590.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,873.20. This represents a 11.79% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 85,243 shares of company stock worth $14,219,154. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

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.