Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,156,157.50 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,156,157.50. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,163,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,770,194.88. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Morningstar Stock Performance

MORN traded up $9.47 on Wednesday, reaching $172.41. The company had a trading volume of 929,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,059. The stock has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.08 and a fifty-two week high of $325.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $197.11 and its 200 day moving average is $218.99.

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

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 120.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” 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.