Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,173,557.50 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.87, for a total transaction of $1,173,557.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,176,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,604,838.94. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN traded down $2.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $159.48. 529,316 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,620. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.08 and a 12 month high of $328.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $200.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 22.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.50.

About Morningstar

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.