Insider Selling: Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 7,250 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.12, for a total transaction of $2,219,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,457,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,895,047,553.72. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Morningstar stock opened at $309.46 on Monday. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $250.34 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $288.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $317.10.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.13. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The firm had revenue of $581.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.07 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MORN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morningstar from $339.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,803,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $944,144,000 after buying an additional 51,598 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,116,000 after purchasing an additional 64,020 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morningstar by 88.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 540,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $162,168,000 after purchasing an additional 253,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth about $111,694,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

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.