KBC Group NV Sells 405 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 38.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 659 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Morningstar by 270.3% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 5,066.7% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in Morningstar by 37.8% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Morningstar in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 target price on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.12, for a total value of $225,898.40. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,631,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,822,264,757.04. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 67,793 shares of company stock valued at $15,436,548 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.2%

Morningstar stock opened at $209.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $224.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.24. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $202.89 and a 1-year high of $365.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 24.68%. The company had revenue of $617.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $603.29 million.

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.