Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 38.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 448,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 1.18% of Morningstar worth $75,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after buying an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 106.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,119,000 after purchasing an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,367,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 1,196.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 260,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after purchasing an additional 240,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 187,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,416,000 after purchasing an additional 146,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of MORN opened at $172.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $170.53 and a 200 day moving average of $178.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $289.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.01.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued 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. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.The business had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.33.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,348,872,005.16. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471. 38.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.