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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.84, for a total transaction of $1,274,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,066,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,418,499,521.60. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Morningstar stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $172.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 448,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,626. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.08 and a 1-year high of $316.71. 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 50-day moving average price of $175.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.72. The company has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MORN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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 cut shares of 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 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.