Oak Thistle LLC Has $1.44 Million Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Oak Thistle LLC grew its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 194.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Morningstar by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,196,000 after buying an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Morningstar by 12.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Morningstar by 259.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after buying an additional 9,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.13, for a total transaction of $40,371.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,788,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,027,765.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,106,235.52. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,661 shares of company stock worth $17,723,744 over the last quarter. 37.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $324.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $342.73 and its 200 day moving average is $326.08. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $269.51 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The stock has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.88 and a beta of 1.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MORN shares. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

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.