Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,310,800.00 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.80, for a total transaction of $1,310,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,230,125 shares in the company, valued at $1,488,006,600. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Price Performance

MORN traded down $3.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $165.47. The stock had a trading volume of 843,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 476,942. The business has a 50-day moving average of $210.44 and a 200-day moving average of $229.19. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $164.62 and a one year high of $330.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 1.08.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 22.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MORN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 9.2% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after buying an additional 118,979 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 106.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 608,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,119,000 after purchasing an additional 314,275 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 26.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 420,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $97,482,000 after purchasing an additional 88,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its stake in Morningstar by 21.3% in the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,003,000 after purchasing an additional 68,896 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.