Parallel Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Morningstar by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Morningstar by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.2% during the third quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 2,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MORN. StockNews.com lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $298.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38 and a beta of 1.23. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $278.64 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $315.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.24%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.57, for a total transaction of $410,329.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,130,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,247,495,275.46. This represents a 0.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097 in the last quarter. Insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar 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.