Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto Sells 6,594 Shares

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 6,594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.75, for a total value of $1,409,467.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,955,196 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,423,145. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Trading Up 2.4%

Morningstar stock opened at $213.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $177.32 and a 200 day moving average of $176.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.49 and a 12-month high of $266.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.7% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth $1,321,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $574,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $903,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $2,184,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morningstar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” 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.