Joseph Mansueto Sells 7,250 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,290,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,148,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,451,512. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $183.14 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.62. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $318.95.

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

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 22.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 75.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morningstar by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 22,109 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 236,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,191,000 after purchasing an additional 35,561 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 70,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,251,000 after buying an additional 13,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at $373,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.