Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 34,320 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its stake in Morningstar by 37.9%, selling 34,320 shares in Q4 and now holds 56,272 shares valued at about $12.26 million.
• Morningstar beat quarterly estimates, reporting $3.18 EPS versus $2.41 expected and revenue of $644.8M versus $626.9M, with a market cap around $6.38B and a P/E of 17.07.
• Insider activity is mixed: CFO Michael Holt bought 1,000 shares while Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan; insiders have sold 85,429 shares (~$14M) over the last 90 days and own ~38.8% of the stock.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lessened its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report) by 37.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,272 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 34,320 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd owned 0.14% of Morningstar worth $12,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 120.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $167.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $177.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $316.71.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.The business had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $626.91 million.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, CFO Michael Holt purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $186.59 per share, for a total transaction of $186,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,768,873.20. This trade represents a 11.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total value of $1,232,282.50. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,128,992 shares in the company, valued at $1,381,684,770.24. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 85,429 shares of company stock worth $14,052,246 over the last 90 days. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.50.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MORN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.