"In June 2019, the SEC first expressed concern about Ensign Peak’s reporting approach. Ensign Peak adjusted its approach and began filing a single aggregated report. Since that time, 13 quarterly reports have been filed in full accordance with SEC requirements."

The parent comment very clearly said “other perpetrators”.

I agree: Such a small fine is basically encouragement for other groups to commit the same violations. When the downsides are so negligible small, there is basically no risk for duplicating the bad behavior. If you get caught, pay a token fine and move on.

If it's easier to understand, just consider how much the SEC had to spend litigating this for 4 years. Now every time they come across this particular crime they'll have to spend at least that much, because the perpetrators will know there is no risk in fighting them, and nobody will preemptively stop before an investigation.

As it stands it appears companies treat fines the expected way: just cost of doing business.