Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,536,637.50 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.95, for a total value of $1,536,637.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,693,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,842,601,101.75. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Morningstar Stock Performance

MORN opened at $215.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $231.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.77. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $202.89 and a 52-week high of $365.00.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 24.68%. The company had revenue of $617.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.29 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MORN. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 3.0% during the 2nd 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 period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 9.1% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 12,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at $373,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Morningstar by 106.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 37,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,121,000 after buying an additional 19,155 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 90.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Morningstar

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.