Bank of Stockton Sells 86 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Bank of Stockton reduced its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 11.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 674 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MORN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,694,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at $56,584,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,694,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 30,785.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 144,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,252,000 after purchasing an additional 143,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Morningstar by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of MORN opened at $310.00 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $299.14 and its 200 day moving average is $309.78. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $250.34 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83 and a beta of 1.02.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $581.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.07 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 23.23%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.84, for a total transaction of $61,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,346,254.80. The trade was a 4.40% 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. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 5,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.08, for a total transaction of $1,582,338.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,437,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,926,419,690.24. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,569 shares of company stock valued at $16,333,474. Corporate insiders own 36.20% 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.