Associated Banc Corp Makes New Investment in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Associated Banc Corp bought a new stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 765 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MORN. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 18.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,207,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Morningstar in the 1st quarter worth about $406,000. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the first quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 38.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 owns 14,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,468,344. The trade was a 4.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,110 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.18, for a total value of $1,907,419.80. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,539,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,290,289,165.24. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,817 shares of company stock worth $18,453,128. 37.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Morningstar Stock Performance

MORN opened at $354.74 on Wednesday. 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 $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.95. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $269.51 and a fifty-two week high of $357.06.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.46%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.40%.

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.