Bryce Point Capital LLC Buys New Shares in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,001 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,626 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 467 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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 Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Morningstar stock traded up $5.97 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $263.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 49,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 129,156. The stock has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01 and a beta of 1.16. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $251.53 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $308.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $326.79. 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 (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar's payout ratio is 21.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total value of $2,962,005.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,109,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,304,429,412.62. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.