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

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total value of $1,457,685.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,016,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,611,785,828.52. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN traded down $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.33. 243,194 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 526,396. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $266.05. The stock has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.99. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $173.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.79.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The company had revenue of $663.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.72 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Morningstar by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Morningstar by 278.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 2,450.0% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Morningstar by 58.8% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 138,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,615,000 after acquiring an additional 51,449 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.33.

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.