Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 6,077 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 33.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,077 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning grew its position in Morningstar by 75.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Morningstar by 3.0% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 236,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,191,000 after purchasing an additional 35,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 90.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,066,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the second quarter worth approximately $373,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,286 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $274,072.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,600,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,833,005,692.80. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 63,750 shares of company stock worth $13,537,223 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $219.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $214.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.59. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $202.89 and a 52 week high of $340.90.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.13. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.The business had revenue of $617.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.29 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.71%.

Morningstar Profile

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.