Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,274,840.00 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.84, for a total value of $1,274,840.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,066,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,418,499,521.60. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $179.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.06. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.08 and a twelve month high of $316.71.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Morningstar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $435,995,000 after buying an additional 47,360 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in Morningstar by 9.2% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,133,000 after buying an additional 118,979 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Morningstar by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after buying an additional 523,387 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after buying an additional 292,053 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,514,000 after purchasing an additional 45,798 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.