National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stock Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.07% of Morningstar worth $9,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Morningstar by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 178.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Morningstar by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $268.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50 and a beta of 1.16. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $268.31 and a 12 month high of $365.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $309.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $327.16. 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 (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.24%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 10,151,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,450,736.80. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.