Level Four Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morningstar by 178.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 49.5% during the 4th 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, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $296.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $313.34 and a 200 day moving average of $327.85. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $278.64 and a 52 week high of $365.00. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 39.12 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Morningstar Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total value of $2,557,749.50. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,038,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,301,707.50. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock valued at $18,770,097. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

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.