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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.04, for a total value of $1,501,040.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 7,969,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,650,045,859.84. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 1.8%

MORN opened at $217.49 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $266.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth about $324,792,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after buying an additional 47,360 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after buying an additional 523,387 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after buying an additional 292,053 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.