Boston Financial Mangement LLC Raises Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,299 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC owned 0.15% of Morningstar worth $22,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,489,000 after buying an additional 102,206 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Morningstar by 13.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 10.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 400,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $127,814,000 after purchasing an additional 39,263 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 61.3% during the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 88,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,203,000 after purchasing an additional 33,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,666,000 after purchasing an additional 28,698 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.57, for a total transaction of $410,329.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,130,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,247,495,275.46. The trade was a 0.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,106 shares of company stock worth $7,878,540 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $328.45 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $331.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $329.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39 and a beta of 1.20. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $269.51 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.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.455 dividend. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.