Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 7,250 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total value of $1,217,927.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,081,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,357,609,505.10. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Price Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $170.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $316.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.44.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 16.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,995,000 after buying an additional 47,360 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in Morningstar by 9.2% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,414,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,133,000 after acquiring an additional 118,979 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Morningstar by 85.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 523,387 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 292,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Morningstar by 9.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,514,000 after acquiring an additional 45,798 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MORN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price objective on Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.50.

Morningstar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morningstar’s own media and research coverage highlighted attractive opportunities in blue-chip and dividend stocks, which can support visibility for its investment-research business and keep the Morningstar brand in front of investors. These 10 Blue-Chip Stocks Are on Sale Now: Morningstar
• Positive Sentiment: A separate article said Morningstar urges tailored diversification conversations to build client trust, which may be viewed as supportive of its advisor-focused business and client relationships. Morningstar urges tailored diversification talks to boost client trust
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO/Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was small relative to his holdings and preplanned, it is unlikely to signal a major change in outlook. SEC Form 4 filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted Morningstar Investment Management was buying more shares of Broadcom, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Walmart while trimming Taiwan Semiconductor. These are portfolio moves by a Morningstar-managed entity, not direct changes to Morningstar, Inc.’s fundamentals, so the impact on MORN is limited. Morningstar Investment Management boosts Broadcom stake by 17,039 shares

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.