Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $27.08 Million Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 22.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 84,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,095 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $27,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 154.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 320,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,727,000 after acquiring an additional 194,122 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Morningstar by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,489,000 after acquiring an additional 102,206 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after acquiring an additional 85,098 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the third quarter valued at about $19,666,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 10.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 400,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $127,814,000 after purchasing an additional 39,263 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $340.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $269.51 and a twelve month high of $365.00. The stock has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $344.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $321.54.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $569.40 million for the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other Morningstar news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total transaction of $1,137,332.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.22, for a total transaction of $2,974,329.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,845,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,781,561.96. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,411 shares of company stock valued at $17,961,104. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Company 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.