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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.21, for a total transaction of $1,132,522.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,198,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,280,649,101.13. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN traded up $6.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $160.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,123,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,588. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.08 and a twelve month high of $330.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.The firm had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 22.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MORN shares. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning increased its position in Morningstar by 75.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 32.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 22,109 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Morningstar by 17.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 236,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,191,000 after purchasing an additional 35,561 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 70,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,251,000 after purchasing an additional 13,627 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.