Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $9,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morningstar by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,803,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $944,144,000 after buying an additional 51,598 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Morningstar by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,666,000 after purchasing an additional 28,698 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth $111,694,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Stock Down 7.6 %

NASDAQ MORN opened at $268.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $268.31 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $309.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $327.16. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.50 and a beta of 1.16.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total transaction of $2,557,749.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,038,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,301,707.50. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 over the last quarter. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.