Townsquare Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 41,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 457 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC owned about 0.10% of Morningstar worth $13,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the first quarter valued at $1,207,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 1st quarter worth about $406,000. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morningstar in the 1st quarter worth about $309,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group started coverage on Morningstar in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.60, for a total value of $233,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,340 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,344. This represents a 4.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,825 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.05, for a total value of $1,342,766.25. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,791,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,788,313,949. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,817 shares of company stock valued at $18,453,128. Insiders own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MORN stock opened at $354.74 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $333.90 and its 200 day moving average is $313.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.86 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $269.51 and a 12-month high of $357.06.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.40%.

Morningstar Company 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.