First Hawaiian Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

First Hawaiian Bank reduced its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 634 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 101.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 93.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MORN shares. UBS Group started coverage on Morningstar in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $360.67.

Morningstar Trading Down 2.0 %

MORN opened at $315.92 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $269.51 and a one year high of $365.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 41.73 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $343.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $325.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.455 dividend. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total transaction of $248,910.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at $6,106,235.52. This represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,661 shares of company stock valued at $17,723,744 over the last quarter. 39.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.