Magnetar Financial LLC Has $942,000 Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Magnetar Financial LLC lowered its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 73.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,604 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MORN. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 120.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 7,579 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 33,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MORN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $298.12 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $315.72 and a 200-day moving average of $327.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38 and a beta of 1.23. 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 twelve month low of $278.64 and a twelve month high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during 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 declared 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 represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total transaction of $1,182,974.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,142,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,300,838,335.36. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.