Aviance Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morningstar during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the second quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 260.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 5,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.84, for a total transaction of $1,238,415.56. Following the sale, the chairman owned 7,938,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,193,937.28. This represents a 0.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,500 shares of company stock worth $17,824,451. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $230.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.67.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.6%

Morningstar stock opened at $226.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $227.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 1.02.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.44. Morningstar had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $672.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.75 million.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc is a global provider of independent investment research, data, and financial technology. The company serves asset managers, financial advisors, institutions, retirement plans, and individual investors with information designed to support investment analysis and decision-making.

Its products and services include research and ratings on mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, and other investments; portfolio analysis and planning tools; investment-management and advisory services; and software and data solutions for financial professionals and institutions.