Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Takes Position in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,658,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 120.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total value of $401,154.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,043,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,445,906.24. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $125,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. 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 target price of $236.50.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of MORN stock opened at $173.13 on Tuesday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.08 and a 52-week high of $316.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.45. The company has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 1.00.

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

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.