Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 6,939 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,939 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.74, for a total transaction of $1,073,740.86. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,205,503 shares in the company, valued at $1,269,719,534.22. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Morningstar Stock Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:MORN traded up $6.02 on Friday, reaching $160.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,123,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,588. The company has a 50-day moving average of $205.76 and a 200 day moving average of $225.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.08. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.08 and a 12-month high of $330.55.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 22.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 106.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,119,000 after acquiring an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,224,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Morningstar by 266.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,190,000 after purchasing an additional 204,277 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 22,716.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 162,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,512,000 after purchasing an additional 161,968 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 362.8% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 187,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,416,000 after buying an additional 146,693 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.