Copeland Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Copeland Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 87,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,710 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned 0.21% of Morningstar worth $20,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MORN. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the first quarter worth $277,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the first quarter valued at $4,762,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 1st quarter valued at $5,817,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 1st quarter worth $2,897,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,286 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $274,072.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,600,815 shares in the company, valued at $1,833,005,692.80. The trade was a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 63,750 shares of company stock worth $13,537,223 over the last three months. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $219.03 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $202.89 and a 12-month high of $339.99. The company has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92 and a beta of 1.11.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 25.07%. The company had revenue of $617.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.29 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Morningstar Company 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.