Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,217,927.50 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,357,609,505.10. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $170.04 on Monday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.08 and a 1 year high of $316.71. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Morningstar News Summary

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,149,000 after acquiring an additional 22,109 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 74,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,199,000 after acquiring an additional 8,424 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 71,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,436,000 after acquiring an additional 10,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 88,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,392,000 after acquiring an additional 27,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.