Ethic Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Ethic Inc. lowered its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 5,066.7% during the first 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. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 172.3% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 177 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the first quarter worth approximately $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $262.29 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $287.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $250.34 and a 1 year high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $605.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $605.84 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.54% and a net margin of 17.22%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 19.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.08, for a total value of $1,871,080.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 9,347,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,412,397,896.48. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 60,647 shares of company stock valued at $15,953,582 over the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Profile

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.