Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Sold by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 70.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,210 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 9.4% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 66,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,706 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 28.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 22,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,937,000 after acquiring an additional 4,882 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 6.4% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its stake in Morningstar by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,003,000 after purchasing an additional 68,896 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Price Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $219.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $214.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.20. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $202.89 and a 12-month high of $340.90. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92 and a beta of 1.11.

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

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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $274,072.32. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,600,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,833,005,692.80. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 63,750 shares of company stock valued at $13,537,223 in the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.