Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $569,203.04 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total value of $569,203.04. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,138,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,483,762,458.24. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Morningstar Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of MORN opened at $186.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 1.10. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.08 and a 52 week high of $316.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $193.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 120.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.50.

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.