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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.20, for a total transaction of $1,444,200.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,030,942 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,763,646.40. 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 Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ MORN opened at $199.33 on Thursday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.49 and a 12-month high of $266.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million.

Key Headlines Impacting Morningstar

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings remain supportive. Morningstar’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with revenue of $663.2 million versus the $649.7 million consensus estimate and EPS of $3.10 versus $2.83 expected. The earnings beat and continued profitability provide a favorable fundamental backdrop for MORN. Morningstar stock and earnings information
• Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar continues expanding its wealth-advice business through technology. A recent report highlighted technology as central to Morningstar Wealth’s plans to grow its presence in the advice market. This could support longer-term growth, but no new financial guidance or specific revenue impact was provided. Tech key to Morningstar Wealth’s plans
• Negative Sentiment: Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto reported two stock sales. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares on August 3 for approximately $1.44 million and another 7,250 shares on August 5 for approximately $1.46 million. The combined sales reduced his ownership by only about 0.18%; he still directly owns more than 8.0 million shares. Because both transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, they are a relatively weak bearish signal. Mansueto SEC Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Another director also sold shares. Director William Lyons sold 1,000 shares for about $199,000, reducing his direct position by 7.19%. The transaction adds a minor insider-selling overhang, but its small dollar value relative to Morningstar’s market capitalization limits its significance. William Lyons insider sale

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MORN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $227.33.

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.