Joseph Mansueto Sells 974 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.32, for a total value of $195,111.68. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 7,998,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,602,298,782.72. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $206.89 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.17. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.49 and a 1 year high of $266.05.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Morningstar by 3.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Morningstar by 278.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 2,450.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 138,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,615,000 after purchasing an additional 51,449 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

More Morningstar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent institutional activity was supportive: several funds, including IEQ Capital, Quantbot Technologies and Callan Family Office, initiated or added positions during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own about 57% of Morningstar’s shares, indicating substantial professional-investor participation.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results showed strong execution. Morningstar reported earnings of $3.10 per share versus the $2.83 consensus estimate, while revenue of $663.2 million exceeded expectations of $649.7 million. The earnings beat remains an important fundamental catalyst for MORN.
• Neutral Sentiment: Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 15,474 shares for approximately $3.07 million across August 10–12. The transactions were made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced his holdings by only about 0.19%, leaving him with roughly 7.99 million shares. The sales therefore appear unlikely to signal a major change in his outlook. SEC insider trading filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines refer to Morningstar’s research coverage of other companies, including stocks that lost value, August buy-and-sell ideas, and a bullish long-term revenue outlook for CoreWeave (CRWV). These are editorial or analyst views and do not represent changes to Morningstar, Inc.’s own financial outlook. CoreWeave revenue outlook article
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed. While BMO Capital Markets maintained an outperform rating and UBS retained a buy rating, Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock to sell, and the consensus rating remains Hold. This could limit upside if investors focus on valuation after the recent advance.

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.