Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Sold by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,518 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 178.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MORN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN stock opened at $298.12 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $278.64 and a one year high of $365.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $315.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.10.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 given a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 21.24%.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total value of $1,182,974.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,142,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,838,335.36. This represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 over the last three months. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.