Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 64,020 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 561,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,020 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $189,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MORN. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Morningstar by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 34,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Morningstar by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $363,903,000 after acquiring an additional 130,087 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $33,829,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Price Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $268.76 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $309.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.24. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $268.31 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.50 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total transaction of $1,182,974.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,142,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,838,335.36. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097. 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.