Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $887,591.25 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 4,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.75, for a total transaction of $887,591.25. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 7,943,851 shares in the company, valued at $1,721,829,704.25. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $215.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.52. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $266.05. The firm has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morningstar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Morningstar by 23.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Morningstar by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.