Joseph Mansueto Sells 974 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.32, for a total transaction of $195,111.68. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 7,998,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,602,298,782.72. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Trading Up 1.1%

Morningstar stock traded up $2.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $197.51. 210,488 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 519,282. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.32. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $266.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The company had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.72 million.

Key Stories Impacting Morningstar

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold a combined 15,474 shares for approximately $3.07 million between August 10 and August 12. The sales reduced his position by only about 0.19%, leaving him with roughly 7.99 million shares, so the transactions appear more consistent with scheduled diversification or liquidity needs than a strong signal about Morningstar’s outlook. SEC insider trading filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was listed at zero shares, unchanged from the prior reporting period, with a zero-day days-to-cover ratio. This suggests no measurable short-selling pressure, although the figures appear mechanically reported and offer little incremental insight into investor positioning.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar’s published coverage included commentary that CoreWeave (CRWV) could eventually generate more than $100 billion in revenue as artificial-intelligence computing costs decline. This is an analyst/media item rather than a change to Morningstar’s own earnings outlook or operations. CRWV revenue outlook article
• Neutral Sentiment: Other recent Morningstar headlines covered oil, silver, copper and FTSE 100 market data, retirement planning, promotional deals, and an IBM–Together AI agreement. These items are generally unrelated to Morningstar, Inc.’s financial performance and are unlikely to materially affect MORN. Morningstar market coverage

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in Morningstar by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 4.7% in the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

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.