Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 225 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 123.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Morningstar by 15.9% during the 4th 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. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 2,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the topic of several research reports. 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 report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN stock opened at $295.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $316.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $328.10. The stock has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06 and a beta of 1.23. 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 1 year low of $278.64 and a 1 year high of $365.00.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total value of $1,182,974.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,142,694 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,838,335.36. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.