Squarepoint Ops LLC Invests $7.45 Million in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 47,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,449,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Morningstar in the second quarter worth $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 5,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.84, for a total transaction of $1,238,415.56. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,938,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,193,937.28. The trade was a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,500 shares of company stock valued at $17,824,451. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $193.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.54 and a 200-day moving average of $181.12. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 1.00. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $261.37.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc is a global provider of independent investment research, data, and financial information. The company serves individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, institutions, and retirement plan providers with tools designed to support investment analysis, portfolio construction, and financial decision-making.

Its offerings include investment research and ratings, market and portfolio data, indexes, software platforms, and retirement planning solutions. Key products include Morningstar Direct for institutional research and analysis and Advisor Workstation for financial professionals.