Copeland Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Copeland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $20,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Morningstar by 270.3% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Morningstar by 37.8% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Morningstar by 23.6% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $219.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92 and a beta of 1.11. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $202.89 and a fifty-two week high of $339.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $214.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.59.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $603.29 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,286 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $274,072.32. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,600,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 63,750 shares of company stock valued at $13,537,223. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.