Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $195,111.68 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.32, for a total transaction of $195,111.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 7,998,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,602,298,782.72. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN opened at $207.41 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $141.49 and a one year high of $266.05. The company has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $663.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 38.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently 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.