Insider Selling: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $1,499,880.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Morningstar Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares for approximately $1.50 million at an average price of $206.88 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. He retains nearly 8.0 million shares, so the sale reduced his ownership by just 0.09%.
• Morningstar shares rose 0.3% to $207.41, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: adjusted EPS was $3.10 versus the $2.83 consensus, and revenue reached $663.2 million compared with estimates of $649.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with two Buy ratings and one Sell rating; the stock carries an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $227.33. Institutional investors own approximately 57.02% of Morningstar.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.88, for a total transaction of $1,499,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 7,976,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,650,270,588.48. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ MORN traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $207.41. The stock had a trading volume of 467,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,380. The business's fifty day moving average price is $175.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.17. The stock has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.49 and a 52-week high of $266.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $663.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Morningstar by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MORN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. 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. 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. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.

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