Sepio Capital LP Sells 69 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Sepio Capital LP reduced its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MORN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Morningstar by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $268.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.50 and a beta of 1.16. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $268.31 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $309.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $327.16.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,328,450,736.80. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Profile

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.