Willner & Heller LLC Takes Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Willner & Heller LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 616 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Morningstar by 109.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 272,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,492,000 after acquiring an additional 4,722 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth approximately $253,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total transaction of $248,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.45, for a total value of $2,985,475.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,836,656 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,136,319.20. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,661 shares of company stock valued at $17,723,744. 37.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN opened at $327.17 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $341.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $326.67. The company has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22 and a beta of 1.20. 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 $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). The firm 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.