Jane Street Group LLC Buys 535 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 21.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 101.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 73.8% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 93.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Morningstar during the third quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of MORN opened at $336.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $269.51 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.49 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $344.19 and a 200-day moving average of $323.75.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MORN. UBS Group began coverage on Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total transaction of $248,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,661 shares of company stock valued at $17,723,744 in the last ninety days. 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.