Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 7,304 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,304 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $1,173,241.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,184,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,629,973.56. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Morningstar Trading Up 2.8%

Morningstar stock opened at $162.75 on Thursday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.08 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $201.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.14.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 15.30%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given 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 payout ratio is 22.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 270.3% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.