William Lyons Sells 1,000 Shares of Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Key Points

• Morningstar director William Lyons sold 1,000 shares at an average price of $199, generating $199,000 and reducing his stake by 7.19% to 12,904 shares.
• Morningstar shares rose 3.3% to $198.93, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $3.10 and revenue of $663.2 million, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $227.33; institutional investors collectively own 57.02% of the stock.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Director William Lyons sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total value of $199,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,567,896. The trade was a 7.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Morningstar Stock Up 3.3%

MORN traded up $6.36 on Monday, hitting $198.93. 339,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 529,797. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.49 and a 12 month high of $276.43. The company has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock's fifty day moving average is $172.26 and its 200-day moving average is $177.05.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MORN has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $227.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,006,325 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $435,995,000 after purchasing an additional 47,360 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $246,910,000 after purchasing an additional 523,387 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $195,644,000 after purchasing an additional 292,053 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $87,514,000 after purchasing an additional 45,798 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 448,870 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $75,881,000 after buying an additional 125,100 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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