Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,156,157.50 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,156,157.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 8,163,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,770,194.88. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.5%

Morningstar stock opened at $183.14 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $318.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $195.10 and its 200 day moving average is $217.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in Morningstar by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 13,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded 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 target on Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

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.