Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,552,660.00 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.16, for a total transaction of $1,552,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 7,947,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,702,132,115.36. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Morningstar stock traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $215.97. 201,905 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 510,137. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $266.05. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.39.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar in the second quarter worth $324,792,000. Morgan Stanley increased 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 valued at $435,995,000 after purchasing an additional 47,360 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 valued at $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.