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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.63, for a total transaction of $1,447,317.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,006,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,421,439.60. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $200.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $174.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $266.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.33.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Morningstar by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Morningstar by 4.7% in the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.