Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 17,774 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 64.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,774 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Morningstar by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after purchasing an additional 47,360 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.2% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after purchasing an additional 118,979 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after buying an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 471,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,566,000 after acquiring an additional 51,844 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:MORN traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $165.18. The company had a trading volume of 295,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $297.40. The firm has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $170.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.39.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total value of $1,205,167.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,114,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,872,005.16. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 64,720 shares of company stock worth $11,169,471 in the last ninety days. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morningstar News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar’s investing research remains in the spotlight, with the firm highlighting broad market opportunities and naming companies like Nvidia and Broadcom on its “cheap stocks to buy” list. That helps reinforce Morningstar’s influence as a trusted market research provider. Broadcom and Nvidia Just Made Morningstar’s ‘Cheap Stocks to Buy’ List
• Positive Sentiment: A new Morningstar PitchBook report says evergreen funds have grown to $607 billion despite redemptions, underscoring continued demand for the firm’s private markets and data products. Morningstar PitchBook: Evergreen Funds Grow to $607B Despite Redemptions
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar also issued routine content and ratings updates, including a gold medalist rating for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF and educational material on risk ratings and ETF bootcamps. These items support brand visibility but are unlikely to materially move MORN shares on their own. Morningstar gives Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF a gold medalist rating Understanding Morningstar Risk Ratings Morningstar webinar series: ETF Bootcamp
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines about AI weakness, Netflix earnings, SK Hynix’s ADR offering, leveraged ETFs, retirement planning, and Salesforce are market-wide commentary rather than direct Morningstar company catalysts. Slumping AI stocks could be really good news for your nontech holdings Going Into Earnings, Is Netflix Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued? SK Hynix Confirms $26.51 Billion Raised Through ADR Offering

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.33.

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.