Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,662,315.56 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total transaction of $1,662,315.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,960,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,789,448.20. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.7%

Morningstar stock opened at $215.97 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $178.94 and its 200-day moving average is $176.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $266.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.72 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. denkapparat Operations GmbH increased its stake in shares of Morningstar by 44.2% during the second quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH now owns 6,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $188,000. Keeler Thomas Management LLC grew its holdings in Morningstar by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Morningstar by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new position in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth $1,321,000. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.