SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 211.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,847 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $7,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MORN. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $435,995,000 after buying an additional 47,360 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in Morningstar by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after acquiring an additional 118,979 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Morningstar by 85.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after acquiring an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after acquiring an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 471,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,566,000 after purchasing an additional 51,844 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $154.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $174.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.86. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $316.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,114,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,872,005.16. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471 in the last 90 days. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings cut Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.00.

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.