Key Points
- Morningstar Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares for approximately $1.5 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his direct ownership by 0.09% to nearly 8 million shares.
- Morningstar exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.10 in earnings per share versus the $2.83 consensus and revenue of $663.2 million, above estimates of $649.7 million.
- Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with the stock carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $227.33; institutional investors own 57.02% of shares.
Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,976,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,650,270,588.48. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Morningstar Stock Performance
Shares of MORN stock opened at $207.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $175.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.39. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.49 and a 52 week high of $266.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.
Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Morningstar in the second quarter worth about $324,792,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 85.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 900,297 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $195,644,000 after purchasing an additional 292,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,769 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $87,514,000 after purchasing an additional 45,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts recently weighed in on MORN shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Morningstar from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a 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, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $227.33.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on MORN
About Morningstar
(
Get Free Report)
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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