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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.27, for a total value of $1,415,707.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,991,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,489,660.42. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MORN stock traded up $2.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $197.51. 210,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 519,282. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.32. The company has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $266.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 38.57%. The firm had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.72 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% in the first 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. WPG Advisers LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Morningstar by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 4.7% in the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MORN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

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.