Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 2,122.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,621 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after buying an additional 47,360 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after buying an additional 523,387 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after acquiring an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Morningstar by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 471,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,566,000 after acquiring an additional 51,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Morningstar by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 365,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,440,000 after acquiring an additional 47,082 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Trading Up 3.0%

MORN opened at $172.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.12. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $141.49 and a one year high of $289.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.The firm had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total transaction of $401,154.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,043,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,445,906.24. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total transaction of $44,833.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,046,732.30. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Profile

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.