Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 783 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $5,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,489,000 after acquiring an additional 102,206 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 0.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 950,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,327,000 after buying an additional 5,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Morningstar by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,666,000 after buying an additional 28,698 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 13.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,115,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,772,000 after acquiring an additional 10,437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of MORN opened at $286.94 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $278.64 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $328.72. The stock has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90 and a beta of 1.23.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its earnings results 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. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $580.81 million.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.25, for a total transaction of $2,557,749.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,038,270 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,301,707.50. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,542 shares of company stock worth $18,769,523. 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.