Insider Selling: Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 1,296 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.80, for a total transaction of $396,316.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,429,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,883,413,275.60. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN opened at $309.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $290.40 and a 200-day moving average of $315.72. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $250.34 and a one year high of $365.00. The company has a market cap of $13.06 billion, a PE ratio of 40.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The company had revenue of $581.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.07 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 5,066.7% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Company Profile

Morningstar, Inc provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement.