The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Stake in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Morningstar by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total transaction of $1,662,315.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 7,960,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,789,448.20. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 86,500 shares of company stock valued at $17,824,451 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.0%

MORN opened at $209.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $261.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.74 and its 200 day moving average is $179.26. The stock has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.