Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 2,272 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 2,272 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.38, for a total value of $450,719.36. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,014,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,851,044.60. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Trading Up 2.1%

MORN stock opened at $200.66 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $266.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $174.25 and its 200 day moving average is $176.72. The company has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 38.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 4.7% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MORN. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

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.