Federated Hermes Inc. Lowers Stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,214 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MORN. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Morningstar by 21.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth $565,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.89, for a total transaction of $562,659.24. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,151,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,450,736.80. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morningstar Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $275.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38 and a beta of 1.16. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $250.34 and a one year high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.75.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.24%.

About Morningstar

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.