Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Acquired by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 64.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $91,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,196,000 after purchasing an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Morningstar by 259.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 9,937 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $468,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 194.9% in the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 2,826 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total transaction of $2,557,749.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,038,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,301,707.50. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th.

Morningstar Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MORN opened at $303.63 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $315.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $328.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $278.64 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 21.24%.

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.