Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,463,340.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Morningstar Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares for approximately $1.46 million at an average price of $201.84 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained nearly 8 million shares, so the sale reduced his ownership by just 0.09%.
• Morningstar shares rose 1.1% to $197.51 during Wednesday trading. The company recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.10 in adjusted earnings per share versus a $2.83 consensus estimate and revenue of $663.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $227.33; institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the stock.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.84, for a total value of $1,463,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 7,999,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,614,653,392.80. The trade was 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 Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MORN traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $197.51. The stock had a trading volume of 210,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,282. The firm has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.99. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $266.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $174.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.32.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $663.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,122,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in Morningstar in the second quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,411,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at approximately $846,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth $235,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

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