Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 11,763 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 85.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,763 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 120.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MORN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 2,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.72, for a total transaction of $401,154.40. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,043,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,445,906.24. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total value of $125,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 64,720 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,471 over the last ninety days. 38.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morningstar Trading Up 5.1%

Shares of MORN opened at $173.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.83. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $295.80.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Morningstar Company 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.