Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 7,250 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.87, for a total value of $1,173,557.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,176,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,604,838.94. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ MORN traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $159.48. 529,316 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,620. The company’s 50-day moving average is $200.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.72. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $328.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 120.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.