Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,206 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,206 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Morningstar worth $26,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,489,000 after acquiring an additional 102,206 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after acquiring an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth about $19,666,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 400,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $127,814,000 after acquiring an additional 39,263 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 88,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,203,000 after acquiring an additional 33,595 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $322.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.54. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $273.56 and a 12-month high of $365.00.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.22, for a total value of $3,219,003.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 10,738,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,814,431,929.28. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,106,235.52. The trade was a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,168 shares of company stock worth $10,840,546 in the last quarter. 39.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.