Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 17,000 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 72.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 4.7% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,114,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,872,005.16. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $125,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,470 shares of company stock valued at $9,929,576. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ MORN opened at $192.57 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $279.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.33.

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.