Invesco Ltd. Acquires 77,042 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 65.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,182 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 77,042 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.45% of Morningstar worth $65,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $111,694,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,694,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Morningstar by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,829,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Morningstar by 339.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 117,156 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,453,000 after purchasing an additional 90,466 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ MORN traded up $1.82 on Friday, reaching $277.19. The stock had a trading volume of 190,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,521. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $250.34 and a 1 year high of $365.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $296.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $323.19. The company has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 1.16.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $580.81 million.

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 issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from Morningstar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total transaction of $562,659.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,151,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,328,450,736.80. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 in the last quarter. 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.