Insider Selling: Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 8,954 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.34, for a total value of $2,635,520.36. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,741,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,161,597,774.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN traded up $0.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $299.86. 114,781 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 126,191. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.43. The company has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.40 and a beta of 1.15. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $185.10 and a 52-week high of $316.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $542.80 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 21.79%.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,576,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $737,546,000 after purchasing an additional 23,812 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Morningstar by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,957,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,481,000 after acquiring an additional 19,119 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,326,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $310,745,000 after acquiring an additional 98,191 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,075,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $307,917,000 after acquiring an additional 67,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 5.3% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 562,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,334,000 after purchasing an additional 28,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MORN has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Morningstar from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.