Joseph Mansueto Sells 4,002 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 4,002 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.08, for a total transaction of $708,674.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,103,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,921,739.20. This trade represents a 0.05% 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.

Morningstar Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of MORN stock opened at $166.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $176.86 and its 200-day moving average is $193.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.08 and a 52-week high of $316.71.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Morningstar by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $435,995,000 after purchasing an additional 47,360 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in Morningstar by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after buying an additional 118,979 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Morningstar by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after buying an additional 523,387 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,644,000 after buying an additional 292,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,514,000 after acquiring an additional 45,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 4,002 shares at an average price of $177.08, which can weigh on investor sentiment even though the trade was made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: He also sold an additional 7,250 shares at an average price of $175.96, adding to the perception that insider activity is leaning cautious. SEC filing
• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar-related articles highlighted strong demand for dividend strategies and cited Morningstar research showing cheaper funds can outperform, reinforcing the company’s data and analytics franchise. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar also published market commentary and “25 New 4-Star Stocks This Week,” which supports the brand but does not appear to be a direct stock catalyst. Article

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.