Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $187.60, but opened at $173.78. Morningstar shares last traded at $176.03, with a volume of 45,490 shares trading hands.

Morningstar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: revenue rose ~10.8% YoY to $644.8M and operating/adjusted operating income grew by more than 30%, with EPS and margins improving — a clear sign of profitable growth and continued product momentum. Business Wire Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic M&A milestone: Morningstar completed a milestone in its CRSP acquisition and is rebranding CRSP market indexes to Morningstar Indexes — this should expand index/benchmark product revenues and market presence over time. Yahoo: CRSP Rebranding
• Neutral Sentiment: Research and media coverage: Morningstar research (studies on “frozen”/hands?off portfolios and coverage of semiliquid funds and diversification risks) boosts the firm’s thought?leadership and could help distribution of advisory/data products — but the commercial impact is hard to quantify near term. MSN: Frozen Portfolios Study
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling: filings show extensive insider share sales (notably large dispositions by founder/executive chairman Joseph Mansueto), which can pressure market sentiment and raise questions about near-term supply. QuiverQuant: Q1 and Insider Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Balance?sheet flags: reported total liabilities rose sharply (~50% YoY to ~ $3B per reported summaries) and cash was modestly lower; capex increased — these items may have raised investor caution despite the profit beat. QuiverQuant: Financial Details

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.50.

Morningstar Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.57 and its 200 day moving average is $196.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.62 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total transaction of $569,203.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,138,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,483,762,458.24. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Holt bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $186.59 per share, for a total transaction of $186,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,873.20. This represents a 11.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 84,643 shares of company stock worth $14,088,066. Corporate insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Morningstar by 120.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.