Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,499,880.00 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.88, for a total transaction of $1,499,880.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 7,976,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,650,270,588.48. 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 can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Performance

MORN traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $207.41. 467,977 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,380. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.49 and a 1-year high of $266.05.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MORN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Berkeley Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,777,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,534,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 176.5% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 35,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,629,000 after acquiring an additional 22,459 shares during the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC grew its position in Morningstar by 150.0% in the second quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 14,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,241,000 after acquiring an additional 8,618 shares during the period. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $3,400,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.