Copeland Capital Management LLC Acquires 104,040 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management increased its Morningstar stake by 45.3% in the third quarter, acquiring 104,040 additional shares for a total of 333,586 shares valued at approximately $63.4 million.
• Institutional investors own 57.02% of Morningstar, with several major firms—including Bamco, BlackRock, and Bank of New York Mellon—establishing or expanding positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, giving Morningstar a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $235.67. The company also exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.10 in earnings per share and $663.2 million in revenue.

Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 45.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 333,586 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 104,040 shares during the period. Morningstar accounts for approximately 1.4% of Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned 0.89% of Morningstar worth $63,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth about $324,792,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth about $36,272,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,051,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Morningstar by 219.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 189,302 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,002,000 after buying an additional 130,035 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group decreased 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morningstar from $230.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.67.

Morningstar Price Performance

NASDAQ MORN opened at $204.37 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $203.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.49 and a 12-month high of $227.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 5,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.84, for a total value of $1,238,415.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 7,938,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,737,193,937.28. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 86,500 shares of company stock valued at $17,824,451 over the last three months. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc is a global provider of independent investment research, data, and analytical services. The company serves individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, institutions, and retirement plan providers through information and tools designed to support investment research, portfolio construction, wealth management, and financial planning.

Its offerings include ratings and research on mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, and other investments; portfolio management and investment research platforms such as Morningstar Direct and Morningstar Advisor Workstation; and data, analytics, and software for asset managers and financial institutions.

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