B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires New Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,181,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. M&G Plc increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.0% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 173,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Morningstar during the 1st quarter worth about $1,207,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 295.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $9,366,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 17,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,452,000 after buying an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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 target price for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.05, for a total value of $1,342,766.25. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,791,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,788,313,949. This represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.48, for a total value of $237,360.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,300,963.20. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,541 shares of company stock valued at $20,234,838. 37.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Price Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $335.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 44.36 and a beta of 1.18. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $269.51 and a 1-year high of $352.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $330.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 21.40%.

About Morningstar

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.