Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Stake Reduced by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG decreased its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,358 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings 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 worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Morningstar by 3.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 278.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 111.9% in the second quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 7,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after buying an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Holt acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $186.59 per share, with a total value of $186,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,873.20. This trade represents a 11.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total transaction of $569,203.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 8,138,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,762,458.24. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 85,243 shares of company stock valued at $14,219,154. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Down 3.5%

NASDAQ MORN opened at $184.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.08 and a twelve month high of $316.71. The stock has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.50.

About Morningstar

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.