Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 3,122 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total value of $569,203.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,138,232 shares in the company, valued at $1,483,762,458.24. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $182.31. 627,778 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 611,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $318.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $195.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $435,995,000 after purchasing an additional 47,360 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake 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 valued at $328,133,000 after purchasing an additional 118,979 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,644,000 after buying an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morningstar by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $196,839,000 after buying an additional 11,408 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on Morningstar in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morningstar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.50.

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.