Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $569,203.04 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total transaction of $569,203.04. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,138,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,483,762,458.24. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Morningstar Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MORN traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $182.31. The stock had a trading volume of 627,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,107. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.08 and a 12-month high of $318.95. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.32.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $641.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.50.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after buying an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morningstar by 106.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,119,000 after acquiring an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter valued at approximately $93,224,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 1,196.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 260,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after purchasing an additional 240,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 266.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,190,000 after purchasing an additional 204,277 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.