Joseph Mansueto Sells 7,906 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total value of $1,662,315.56. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 7,960,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,789,448.20. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:MORN traded up $4.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $213.65. 357,140 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 513,496. The company has a fifty day moving average of $176.77 and a 200 day moving average of $176.20. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.49 and a twelve month high of $266.05. The company has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.99.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at $1,321,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $574,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $903,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter worth about $2,184,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the second quarter worth about $1,184,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.