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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $1,275,710.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,095,990 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,570,400.40. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MORN traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $175.82. The stock had a trading volume of 332,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,450. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $316.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.The business had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 278.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 2,450.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Morningstar by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 138,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,615,000 after purchasing an additional 51,449 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.50.

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.