Bamco Inc. NY Sells 172,511 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Bamco Inc. NY decreased its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,241,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 172,511 shares during the period. Morningstar accounts for about 0.7% of Bamco Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bamco Inc. NY owned 3.02% of Morningstar worth $269,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $164.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.08 and a 52 week high of $316.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $177.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 1.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,114,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,872,005.16. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 over the last 90 days. 38.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Morningstar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar Wealth is launching public/private model portfolios with major partners Apollo, Franklin Templeton and J.P. Morgan, potentially broadening its wealth platform and creating a new growth avenue. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar’s new report says the semiliquid fund market is nearing $600 billion, underscoring strong demand trends in an area where Morningstar can expand research and product coverage. Business Wire article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar also highlighted that advisors are shifting toward private equity and venture capital, reinforcing the relevance of its alternative-investment research and platform. InvestmentNews article
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm’s commentary on SpaceX being “wildly overvalued” is more market commentary than a direct earnings driver, but it keeps Morningstar visible as a valuation-focused research provider. MSN article
• Negative Sentiment: Investor reaction may also reflect broader caution around alternative assets and private-credit trends, even as Morningstar’s research suggests growth in semiliquid products. Business Wire article

Morningstar Company Profile

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.