Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 19,155 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 106.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,155 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.09% of Morningstar worth $11,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.4% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 37.8% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 6.6% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 10.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $256.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $271.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.00. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.56 and a 12 month high of $365.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 1.01.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.19. Morningstar had a net margin of 17.22% and a return on equity of 23.54%. The company had revenue of $605.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $605.84 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,705 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.65, for a total transaction of $1,747,658.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 9,312,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,427,390,703.40. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 85,500 shares of company stock worth $22,341,957 in the last ninety days. 36.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.