Copeland Capital Management LLC Purchases 17,378 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management increased its stake in Morningstar by 19.8%, buying 17,378 shares to hold 105,282 shares worth about $22.88 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 57.02% of the company.
• Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,304 shares for approximately $1.17 million, and insiders have sold 84,643 shares (~$14.09 million) over the past 90 days while still owning 38.80% of Morningstar.
• Analyst views are mixed: Morningstar has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $236.50 (Weiss downgraded to Sell; BMO lowered its target to $193) even as the company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,282 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,378 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned about 0.26% of Morningstar worth $22,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew 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 worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management grew its position in Morningstar by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 13,902 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,304 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $1,173,241.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,184,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,314,629,973.56. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 84,643 shares of company stock worth $14,088,066. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MORN. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.50.

Trending Headlines about Morningstar

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar has begun a global rollout of an updated Medalist Rating — a visible product upgrade that can strengthen Morningstar’s ratings franchise and help retain or grow advisor/subscriber revenue. Morningstar begins global rollout of updated Medalist Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar is considering changes to index construction ahead of the SpaceX IPO — a move that signals the firm is positioning its index business to capture licensing and ETF flows tied to major new listings. That could be a longer‑term revenue opportunity. Morningstar considers revamping index construction ahead of SpaceX IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive: Morningstar’s last reported quarter beat expectations on both EPS ($2.71 vs. $2.34) and revenue (~$641.1M vs. ~$634.4M), which underpins the company’s recurring‑revenue profile and margins.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar may relocate to Chicago’s Thompson Center — a facilities move that could affect office costs and local presence but is not a major near‑term revenue driver. Morningstar may move into Chicago's Thompson Center
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple press items from Morningstar Japan K.K. redistributed third‑party company news (SBI Global Asset Management earnings, dividend lift, rebrand and stock‑option issuance). These reflect Morningstar’s local news/distribution activity but have limited direct impact on MORN’s corporate earnings. SBI Global Asset Management Beats Full-Year Forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar’s ongoing ratings and research activity (examples: a 5‑star ETF rating for QTUM and analyst commentary on names like EMCOR) show continued influence in the market, supporting its data/licensing value though the impact on near‑term stock moves is mixed. QTUM tops $4B AUM, earns 5-star Morningstar ratingEMCOR coverage (mentions Morningstar analyst views)
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and valuation pressure: the shares are trading below the 200‑day moving average and volume is elevated, suggesting profit‑taking and short‑term selling pressure despite solid fundamentals. That technical weakness and broader market sentiment appear to be driving today’s decline.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $177.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $174.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.25. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.08 and a twelve month high of $316.71. The firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 1.11.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million.

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.

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