Seven Eight Capital LP Takes Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 854 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,576,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $737,546,000 after purchasing an additional 23,812 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Morningstar by 0.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,099,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $325,288,000 after buying an additional 4,822 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Morningstar by 5.3% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 562,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,334,000 after buying an additional 28,164 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 509,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,835,000 after acquiring an additional 160,281 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 291,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,887,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.21, for a total transaction of $220,657.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,660,286.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.21, for a total transaction of $220,657.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,840 shares in the company, valued at $4,660,286.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.64, for a total transaction of $2,742,523.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,631,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,217,579,503.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,941 shares of company stock valued at $19,402,863. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $352.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $323.74 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.40 and a beta of 1.18. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $219.45 and a 1-year high of $330.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 22.34% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $571.90 million for the quarter.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.73%.

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.