Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Grows Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 207.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,149 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 270.3% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its position in Morningstar by 37.8% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $216.38 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $218.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.50. The company has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.06. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.89 and a 12 month high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.13. Morningstar had a return on equity of 24.68% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company had revenue of $617.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $603.29 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MORN shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.95, for a total transaction of $1,536,637.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 8,693,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,842,601,101.75. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 63,750 shares of company stock worth $13,537,223 over the last 90 days. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.