Meeder Asset Management Inc. Takes $1.75 Million Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,752,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 11.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 183,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,033,000 after purchasing an additional 19,264 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at $6,534,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Morningstar by 176.5% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 35,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,629,000 after purchasing an additional 22,459 shares in the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 150.0% during the second quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 14,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 8,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at $3,400,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Director William M. Lyons sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total value of $199,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,567,896. This represents a 7.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total transaction of $1,457,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,016,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,611,785,828.52. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,716 shares of company stock valued at $10,099,415. 38.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MORN opened at $208.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.77 and a 200 day moving average of $176.20. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.49 and a 52-week high of $266.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 38.57%. The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.72 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MORN shares. 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 decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

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.