Joseph Mansueto Sells 1,653 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 1,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $272,745.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,215,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,355,583,240. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MORN stock opened at $154.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.89. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.08 and a 52 week high of $330.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 22.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after acquiring an additional 118,979 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $196,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morningstar by 106.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $141,119,000 after purchasing an additional 314,275 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 471,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $102,566,000 after buying an additional 51,844 shares during the period. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 21.3% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,003,000 after buying an additional 68,896 shares during the period. 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.