Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 6,608 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,608 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $1,066,134.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 8,170,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,318,204,914.36. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.5%

MORN stock traded down $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.48. The company had a trading volume of 529,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,620. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.72. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.08 and a fifty-two week high of $328.70.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.37. The business 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 announced 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 is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 22.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Morningstar by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 3.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Morningstar by 278.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $251,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth $5,247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MORN shares. 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 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 note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morningstar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.50.

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.