Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Stock Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 38.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 394,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 109,833 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 1.04% of Morningstar worth $66,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Stock Performance

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

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

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total value of $1,205,167.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,114,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,348,872,005.16. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Morningstar

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.