Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Grows Stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 339.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,156 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 90,466 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.27% of Morningstar worth $39,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 39,263 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,983 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 88,679 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,299,000 after acquiring an additional 6,205 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $301,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Morningstar by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,371 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MORN. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN stock traded down $11.51 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $257.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,465. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.35 and a 12 month high of $365.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $309.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $327.24.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.455 dividend. This is an increase from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar's payout ratio is currently 21.24%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total transaction of $562,659.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,151,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,450,736.80. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097. Insiders own 39.90% of the company's stock.

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.