Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells $2,927,297.86 in Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.03, for a total transaction of $2,927,297.86. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,085,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,257,959,766.78. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Morningstar Stock Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $311.16 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $328.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $329.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $281.37 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.10 and a beta of 1.20.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morningstar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,772,000 after acquiring an additional 10,437 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morningstar by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,196,000 after purchasing an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Morningstar by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Morningstar by 259.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 9,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the third quarter worth $3,181,000. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

About Morningstar

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.