Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 6,939 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,939 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.74, for a total transaction of $1,073,740.86. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,205,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,269,719,534.22. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Morningstar Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of MORN traded up $6.02 on Friday, hitting $160.03. 1,123,845 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 577,588. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.08 and a 1 year high of $330.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $205.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid 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 (DPR) is presently 22.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

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

About Morningstar

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.