Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 6,608 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $1,066,134.72. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,170,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,318,204,914.36. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.5%

Morningstar stock traded down $2.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $159.48. 529,316 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,620. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.72. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.08 and a 52-week high of $328.70.

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

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings lowered Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 0.3% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 13,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.