Copeland Capital Management LLC Purchases 29,933 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 28.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 135,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,933 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $22,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MORN. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Morningstar by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 74,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,199,000 after acquiring an additional 8,424 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 71,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,436,000 after purchasing an additional 10,794 shares in the last quarter. Berkeley Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at $3,777,000. Fluent Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at $2,541,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 176.5% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 35,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,629,000 after purchasing an additional 22,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Holt sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total value of $44,833.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 12,326 shares in the company, valued at $2,046,732.30. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total transaction of $401,154.40. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,043,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,445,906.24. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. 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 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of MORN opened at $172.48 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $170.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.78. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $292.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.01.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million.

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.