Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $450,719.36 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 2,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.38, for a total transaction of $450,719.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,014,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,589,851,044.60. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Morningstar stock traded up $4.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $200.66. The company had a trading volume of 184,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,720. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.25 and a 200 day moving average of $176.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.49 and a 52-week high of $266.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $227.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Morningstar during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth $29,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.