Joseph D. Mansueto Sells 7,250 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Key Points

• Joseph Mansueto, Chairman of Morningstar, sold 7,250 shares at an average price of $258.65, totaling $1,875,212.50, resulting in a 0.08% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Morningstar reported $2.40 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21, while revenues totaled $605.10 million, slightly below expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.455 per share, which corresponds to an annualized yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 19.38%.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $1,875,212.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 9,354,731 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,601,173.15. 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.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MORN traded up $5.8750 during trading on Friday, hitting $264.5450. The company had a trading volume of 118,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,002. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $250.34 and a 12 month high of $365.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.19 and a beta of 0.96.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.19. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.54% and a net margin of 17.22%.The business had revenue of $605.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $605.84 million.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. Morningstar's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morningstar by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $196,839,000 after acquiring an additional 11,408 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Morningstar by 88.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 540,795 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $162,168,000 after buying an additional 253,137 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lifted its position in Morningstar by 21.3% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $123,003,000 after buying an additional 68,896 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Morningstar by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,014 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $102,719,000 after buying an additional 13,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morningstar during the second quarter worth approximately $93,224,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Morningstar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $361.67.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement.