Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 4,900 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $63,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Morningstar Stock Up 9.0 %

MORN opened at $278.39 on Thursday. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $250.34 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 market cap of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.78 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $303.23 and its 200 day moving average is $325.19.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,280 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.57, for a total transaction of $410,329.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,130,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,247,495,275.46. The trade was a 0.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 in the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is owned by 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.