M&G PLC Sells 8,753 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

M&G PLC decreased its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 155,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,753 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $35,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 75.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 22,109 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 236,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,191,000 after purchasing an additional 35,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC grew its stake in Morningstar by 24.2% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 70,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,251,000 after buying an additional 13,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on Morningstar in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of 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 Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.00.

Key Morningstar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates: Morningstar posted stronger-than-expected EPS and solid revenue with notably strong operating cash flow — a classic fundamental driver for investor buying (press release). Q4 press release
• Positive Sentiment: New index licensing deal: Morningstar partnered to launch Catholic-principles equity indexes with the Vatican Bank — a recurring-revenue product that can expand index/data licensing fees and distribution. Vatican bank teams with Morningstar on Catholic stock indexes
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary: Coverage questioning semiliquid/private-market funds and Morningstar’s related analysis may influence advisor sentiment but is unlikely to move core revenue immediately. Article on semiliquid funds
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio rebalancing by Morningstar Investment Management (e.g., shifts in Berkshire, Meta, TSMC) signals client-level activity that informs asset-management revenues but doesn’t change corporate guidance. Portfolio moves
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Chairman Joseph Mansueto has executed several small open?market sales this week (multiple Form 4 filings). While tiny vs. his stake, visible insider sales can create short?term caution among investors. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Margin and profit headwinds: operating profit and net income were down year-over-year despite revenue growth — investors should watch margin trends and expense pacing in coming quarters. Earnings rundown

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $160.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $204.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 1.08. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.08 and a 12 month high of $330.55.

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 net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The company had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.21, for a total value of $1,132,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,198,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,649,101.13. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.48, for a total value of $131,088.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $818,207.60. This trade represents a 13.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 55,824 shares of company stock valued at $10,098,686 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar 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.