Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock: Insider Joseph Mansueto Sells 135 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 135 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.14, for a total value of $33,768.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,565,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,142,522,641.16. This represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ MORN traded down $2.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $246.08. 181,162 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 449,489. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $251.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.43.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $672.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $664.75 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 45.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morningstar from $230.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.67.

More Morningstar News

Here’s some of the latest news about MORN:

• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis characterized Morningstar as “still slightly undervalued,” which may support the shares if investors agree with its valuation view. Morningstar: Still Slightly Undervalued
• Neutral Sentiment: Chairman Joseph Mansueto reported selling a combined 14,655 shares across three transactions. The sales represented a very small reduction in his holdings, and the filings state they were made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan—factors that temper the negative signal from insider selling. SEC Form 4 filing

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $324,792,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Morningstar by 9.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,514,000 after buying an additional 45,798 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 38.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 448,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,881,000 after buying an additional 125,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Morningstar by 38.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 394,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,763,000 after buying an additional 109,833 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Company Profile

Morningstar, Inc. is a global provider of independent investment research, data, ratings and investment-management tools. The company serves individual investors, financial advisers, asset managers, retirement plan providers and institutions. Its offerings include investment and portfolio data, mutual fund and exchange-traded fund research, software for financial professionals, and wealth-management services. Morningstar also provides credit ratings through DBRS Morningstar and sustainability research through Sustainalytics.