Duality Advisers LP Acquires New Shares in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,053,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MORN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morningstar by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,552,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,981,000 after purchasing an additional 75,275 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Morningstar by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,957,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,481,000 after purchasing an additional 19,119 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in Morningstar by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,326,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $310,745,000 after purchasing an additional 98,191 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Morningstar by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,007,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,055,000 after purchasing an additional 380,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 389,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,266,000 after buying an additional 117,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,926 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.39, for a total transaction of $1,935,055.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,934,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,125,738.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.39, for a total value of $1,935,055.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,934,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,125,738.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven N. Kaplan sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.81, for a total transaction of $383,512.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,630,647.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,544 shares of company stock worth $27,733,515. Company insiders own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MORN. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $303.01 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.38 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.28 and a 1 year high of $316.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 18.54%. The business had revenue of $538.70 million for the quarter.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.39%.

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.