DF Dent & Co. Inc. Sells 2,700 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,678 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,700 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc. owned about 0.20% of Morningstar worth $28,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 400,520 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $127,814,000 after purchasing an additional 39,263 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Morningstar by 16.9% in 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 buying an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $28,299,000 after acquiring an additional 6,205 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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 upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday.

Morningstar Stock Down 4.1 %

MORN stock traded down $11.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $257.61. The company had a trading volume of 182,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 129,013. The company has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86 and a beta of 1.16. 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 52 week low of $253.35 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $309.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $327.24.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 paid a $0.455 dividend. This is an increase from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 10,038,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,833,301,707.50. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. Company 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.