Captrust Financial Advisors Has $3.04 Million Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 167.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,655 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Morningstar were worth $3,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth about $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,280 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.57, for a total value of $410,329.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,130,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 66,198 shares of company stock worth $20,504,896 in the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $303.80 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $250.34 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $286.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.13. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $581.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.07 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

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.