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

Key Points

• Joseph Mansueto, Morningstar's chairman, sold 7,250 shares at an average of $166.23 on May 6 for about $1.205 millionRule 10b5‑1 plan and reduced his stake by 0.09% to 8,114,492 shares.
• Morningstar shares jumped about 6.1% to $177.91 on higher-than-average volume, with the stock trading between a one‑year low of $149.08 and high of $316.71.
• The company beat Q1 expectations with EPS $3.18 versus $2.41 and revenue of $644.8M, while analyst sentiment is mixed — a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $236.50.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total value of $1,205,167.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,114,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,348,872,005.16. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Morningstar Stock Up 6.1%

NASDAQ MORN traded up $10.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $177.91. 647,355 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,181. The company's 50-day moving average is $177.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.53. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $149.08 and a one year high of $316.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $644.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 120.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company's stock.

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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