Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires 611 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 492.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 735 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&G Plc lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.0% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 173,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,207,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Morningstar by 295.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.6 %

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

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS 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 return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company 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 was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 21.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.94, for a total transaction of $225,629.74. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,532,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,295,963,253.82. This represents a 0.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 14,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,468,344. This represents a 4.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,817 shares of company stock worth $18,453,128 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

About Morningstar

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.