Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,071,789.33 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.09, for a total value of $1,071,789.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,184,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,107,900.25. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN opened at $159.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $199.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.95. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $328.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The company had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Morningstar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Appointment of Scott Brown as President, Direct Platform — a senior hire (effective Mar 2) intended to accelerate Morningstar’s direct/advisor platform growth; this could help expand subscription and platform revenues if execution succeeds. Morningstar Names Scott Brown as President of Direct Platform Business
• Positive Sentiment: Hired an Experian veteran to lead the direct platform push — another leadership move signaling focused investment in direct channels, which could improve client acquisition and margins over time. Morningstar taps Experian veteran to lead direct platform push
• Neutral Sentiment: Research product mention — Morningstar published its Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate for 2026 at 3.9%, reinforcing its role as a trusted research provider; useful for brand and client engagement but unlikely to move near-term revenue materially. Morningstar Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate For 2026 Is 3.9%
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target on MORN to $193 (from $257) — a material downward adjustment that reduces analyst-implied valuation and can trigger short-term selling or limit buying interest. BMO Capital Markets Lowers Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target to $193.00
• Negative Sentiment: Repeated insider sales by Chairman Joseph Mansueto (multiple Form 4 filings Feb 17–20 totaling small blocks at ~ $159–$162) — while the sales are tiny relative to his large remaining stake, they add to headline selling and can amplify short‑term downward pressure. SEC Form 4 filing (Mansueto insider sales)

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $435,995,000 after buying an additional 47,360 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after buying an additional 118,979 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Morningstar by 85.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,910,000 after acquiring an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,644,000 after acquiring an additional 292,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,839,000 after acquiring an additional 11,408 shares in the last quarter. 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.