Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,173,241.52 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $1,173,241.52. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,184,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,629,973.56. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $159.48 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.08 and a 1 year high of $328.70. The firm has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $199.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.45%.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 1,196.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 260,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after buying an additional 240,848 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,369,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 153.0% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,084 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 14,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 1,352.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MORN. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

More Morningstar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Appointment of Scott Brown as President, Direct Platform — a senior hire (effective Mar 2) intended to accelerate Morningstar’s direct/advisor platform growth; this could help expand subscription and platform revenues if execution succeeds. Morningstar Names Scott Brown as President of Direct Platform Business
• Positive Sentiment: Hired an Experian veteran to lead the direct platform push — another leadership move signaling focused investment in direct channels, which could improve client acquisition and margins over time. Morningstar taps Experian veteran to lead direct platform push
• Neutral Sentiment: Research product mention — Morningstar published its Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate for 2026 at 3.9%, reinforcing its role as a trusted research provider; useful for brand and client engagement but unlikely to move near-term revenue materially. Morningstar Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate For 2026 Is 3.9%
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target on MORN to $193 (from $257) — a material downward adjustment that reduces analyst-implied valuation and can trigger short-term selling or limit buying interest. BMO Capital Markets Lowers Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target to $193.00
• Negative Sentiment: Repeated insider sales by Chairman Joseph Mansueto (multiple Form 4 filings Feb 17–20 totaling small blocks at ~ $159–$162) — while the sales are tiny relative to his large remaining stake, they add to headline selling and can amplify short‑term downward pressure. SEC Form 4 filing (Mansueto insider sales)

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.