Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Sold by First Hawaiian Bank

First Hawaiian Bank lessened its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Morningstar by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 57,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 1.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 32,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,462,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $315.92 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $269.51 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 41.73 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $343.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.30.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued 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). Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The company had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.22, for a total transaction of $2,974,329.64. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,845,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,559,781,561.96. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,661 shares of company stock valued at $17,723,744. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.