Bamco Inc. NY Decreases Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Bamco Inc. NY lowered its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,305,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,349 shares during the quarter. Morningstar accounts for approximately 1.1% of Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Bamco Inc. NY owned 3.04% of Morningstar worth $416,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 326.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 101.7% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.48, for a total value of $237,360.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,300,963.20. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 8,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.95, for a total transaction of $2,464,733.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,517,257 shares in the company, valued at $3,217,754,779.15. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 58,019 shares of company stock valued at $19,531,012. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $354.15 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $269.51 and a 1-year high of $359.50. The firm has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78 and a beta of 1.18.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.40%.

Morningstar Company 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.