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

Key Points

• Morningstar Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares for about $1.79 million at an average price of $247.15. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; he retains roughly 8.57 million shares.
• Morningstar’s latest quarterly results beat analyst expectations, reporting $3.48 EPS and $672.1 million in revenue, versus consensus estimates of $3.04 EPS and $664.75 million in revenue.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with a $235.67 average price target. Shares recently traded at $246.08, near their 12-month high of $251.04.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.15, for a total value of $1,791,837.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,565,429 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,945,777.35. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of MORN stock traded down $2.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $246.08. The company had a trading volume of 181,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 449,489. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $251.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's fifty day moving average is $210.42 and its 200 day moving average is $187.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $672.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $664.75 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 17.00%.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at approximately $545,937,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $324,792,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,272,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,051,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,952,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MORN. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morningstar from $230.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morningstar currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.67.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. is a global provider of independent investment research, data, ratings and investment-management tools. The company serves individual investors, financial advisers, asset managers, retirement plan providers and institutions. Its offerings include investment and portfolio data, mutual fund and exchange-traded fund research, software for financial professionals, and wealth-management services. Morningstar also provides credit ratings through DBRS Morningstar and sustainability research through Sustainalytics.

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