Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,177 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,854 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.63% of Morningstar worth $81,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Morningstar by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,798 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 10.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 516 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 416 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 4.3% during the first quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.7%

Morningstar stock traded down $5.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $293.88. 186,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 294,008. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.68 and a beta of 1.01. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $250.34 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $305.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.65.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $581.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.07 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 23.23%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be given a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Morningstar's payout ratio is 20.45%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,246 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.52, for a total transaction of $381,923.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 9,427,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,820,290.72. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Caroline J. Tsay sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.84, for a total value of $61,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,345 shares in the company, valued at $1,346,254.80. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,569 shares of company stock worth $16,333,474 in the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morningstar Profile

Morningstar, Inc provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement.