Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 6,737 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,737 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.09, for a total transaction of $1,071,789.33. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,184,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,107,900.25. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Morningstar Stock Up 2.8%

Morningstar stock traded up $4.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.75. 620,362 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 591,914. The stock has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $201.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities 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.com, Morningstar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.50.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Morningstar by 270.3% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 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.