Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $29.30 Million Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 87,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,568 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $29,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Morningstar by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 15.9% in the 4th 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 period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 178.6% during 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 period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. StockNews.com downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total transaction of $2,557,749.50. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,038,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,833,301,707.50. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN opened at $273.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.11 and a beta of 1.16. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $250.34 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $301.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.24%.

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.