Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Purchased by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 105.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the third quarter worth $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 120.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total transaction of $44,833.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 12,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,046,732.30. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.3%

Morningstar stock opened at $165.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $171.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.50. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $301.61. The company has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

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.