Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,874 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $28,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 9.2% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,653 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 182.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 39,989 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,239,000 after purchasing an additional 25,817 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 60.3% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 95.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morningstar

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend maintained: Morningstar plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, supporting the investment case for income-oriented shareholders and signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Morningstar Plans Quarterly Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: New Chicago headquarters: Morningstar will relocate its global headquarters to the renovated Thompson Center in downtown Chicago, joining Google under a roughly 275,000-square-foot lease. The move is scheduled for late 2028 and includes a planned $5 million community investment. The announcement could improve the company’s visibility and workplace strategy, but it does not materially change near-term earnings expectations. Morningstar Announces New Global Headquarters
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary on Indian SIFs: CEO Kunal Kapoor said investors should treat India’s new Specialized Investment Funds as satellite holdings rather than core portfolio positions, emphasizing diversification, simplicity and cost discipline. The comments reinforce Morningstar’s advisory perspective but have limited direct financial impact on MORN. Morningstar CEO Comments on SIFs
• Negative Sentiment: Potential occupancy and transition costs: A 275,000-square-foot headquarters lease could increase fixed office expenses and generate relocation or build-out costs. Because the benefits are primarily longer term and lease terms were not disclosed, investors may view the announcement as adding financial commitments without an immediate earnings catalyst. Morningstar Thompson Center Lease

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total value of $1,662,315.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,960,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,789,448.20. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 86,500 shares of company stock valued at $17,824,451 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

MORN stock traded up $2.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $192.71. 59,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,627. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $228.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.79.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The firm had revenue of $663.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.72 million.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc is a global provider of independent investment research, data, and analytical services. The company serves individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, institutions, and retirement plan providers through information and tools designed to support investment research, portfolio construction, wealth management, and financial planning.

Its offerings include ratings and research on mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, and other investments; portfolio management and investment research platforms such as Morningstar Direct and Morningstar Advisor Workstation; and data, analytics, and software for asset managers and financial institutions.