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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.87, for a total value of $1,173,557.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 8,176,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,604,838.94. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.5%

Morningstar stock opened at $159.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $199.12 and a 200 day moving average of $220.95. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $328.70.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The firm had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.45%.

More Morningstar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Appointment of Scott Brown as President, Direct Platform — a senior hire (effective Mar 2) intended to accelerate Morningstar’s direct/advisor platform growth; this could help expand subscription and platform revenues if execution succeeds. Morningstar Names Scott Brown as President of Direct Platform Business
• Positive Sentiment: Hired an Experian veteran to lead the direct platform push — another leadership move signaling focused investment in direct channels, which could improve client acquisition and margins over time. Morningstar taps Experian veteran to lead direct platform push
• Neutral Sentiment: Research product mention — Morningstar published its Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate for 2026 at 3.9%, reinforcing its role as a trusted research provider; useful for brand and client engagement but unlikely to move near-term revenue materially. Morningstar Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate For 2026 Is 3.9%
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target on MORN to $193 (from $257) — a material downward adjustment that reduces analyst-implied valuation and can trigger short-term selling or limit buying interest. BMO Capital Markets Lowers Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target to $193.00
• Negative Sentiment: Repeated insider sales by Chairman Joseph Mansueto (multiple Form 4 filings Feb 17–20 totaling small blocks at ~ $159–$162) — while the sales are tiny relative to his large remaining stake, they add to headline selling and can amplify short‑term downward pressure. SEC Form 4 filing (Mansueto insider sales)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,119,000 after buying an additional 314,275 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,224,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 1,196.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 260,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,713,000 after acquiring an additional 240,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 266.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,190,000 after acquiring an additional 204,277 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.