Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 13,711 Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in 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 increased its stake in 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 increased its stake in 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 increased its stake in 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, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morningstar

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media outlets highlighted Morningstar as a “top pick” trading at a steep discount after earnings, reinforcing the view that the shares may be undervalued relative to fundamentals. PANW vs CRWD vs AVGO: Morningstar has a ‘top pick’ trading at a 40% discount after earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment also got a lift from a favorable article, “3 Reasons We Love Morningstar (MORN),” which could support the stock by spotlighting the company’s appeal to shareholders. 3 Reasons We Love Morningstar (MORN)
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar continued to generate media coverage around its research, including its view that SpaceX is worth far less than the IPO valuation and that the company has governance concerns. These articles raise Morningstar’s profile but are not directly tied to operating results. Institutional investors have governance concerns about SpaceX IPO: Morningstar director
• Neutral Sentiment: A report showing zero short interest and no meaningful change in bearish positioning does not suggest a new catalyst for the stock either way.
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional articles about Morningstar’s market commentary and stock-picking lists are likely helping visibility, but they do not appear to materially change the near-term earnings or revenue outlook. 5 Stocks to Buy Before the Next Market Rotation

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total value of $44,833.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,046,732.30. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total transaction of $401,154.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,043,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,445,906.24. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MORN shares. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.7%

MORN stock opened at $184.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.40. The company has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 1.00. 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 12 month low of $149.08 and a 12 month high of $316.71.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

About Morningstar

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.