Invesco Ltd. Raises Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 266.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204,277 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $88,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Morningstar by 23.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 6.6% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Morningstar by 28.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Morningstar by 7.4% in the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.95, for a total value of $1,536,637.50. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,693,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,842,601,101.75. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 63,750 shares of company stock valued at $13,537,223. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.9%

MORN stock opened at $215.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $216.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.89 and a 12 month high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 25.07%. The business had revenue of $617.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.29 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Morningstar 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.