Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 5,049 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,049 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.46% of Morningstar worth $29,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Morningstar by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after acquiring an additional 47,360 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after acquiring an additional 523,387 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after acquiring an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Morningstar by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 471,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,566,000 after purchasing an additional 51,844 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Morningstar by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 365,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,440,000 after purchasing an additional 47,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Morningstar Price Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $172.61 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $170.53 and a 200-day moving average of $177.87. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $289.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $125,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total transaction of $44,833.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,326 shares in the company, valued at $2,046,732.30. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471. 38.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Profile

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.