Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 7,250 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.21, for a total transaction of $1,132,522.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,198,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,280,649,101.13. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Morningstar Trading Up 3.9%

MORN stock traded up $6.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $160.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,123,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,588. The firm has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $205.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.89. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $330.55.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 278.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 270.3% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 28.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.00.

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.