Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Director William Lyons Sells 700 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Director William Lyons sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total value of $125,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,816. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $176.67 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $316.71.

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

Morningstar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar continues to receive visibility through market commentary and personal finance coverage, including articles on AI spending cycles, retirement spending, dividend investing, and global markets, which helps keep the brand and its research platform in front of investors. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s commentary on dividend growth investing reinforces Morningstar’s reputation as a trusted source for long-term investing analysis, which can support its subscription and data businesses over time. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar’s analysts were quoted in coverage of India fund flows and semiconductor trends, highlighting the firm’s influence in market commentary but offering no clear direct earnings or revenue catalyst for Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN). Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: A Morningstar-linked discussion about asset owners’ perspectives suggests the company remains part of broader investment-industry debate, but it does not by itself signal a meaningful near-term stock driver. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Director William M. Lyons sold 700 shares at $179, a move that may weigh on sentiment because insider selling can be interpreted as reduced confidence in the near-term outlook. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: A recent Seeking Alpha piece argued that Morningstar’s “data moat” is starting to shrink, which could pressure the stock if investors worry about competition or slowing pricing power in the company’s core data and analytics businesses. Article title

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Morningstar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after acquiring an additional 47,360 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.2% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after purchasing an additional 118,979 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,514,000 after purchasing an additional 45,798 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.