Insider Selling: Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 3,635 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total transaction of $1,182,974.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,142,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,838,335.36. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MORN traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $327.07. 93,840 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,049. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $269.51 and a 1 year high of $365.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $337.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $328.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This is an increase from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 9.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,489,000 after buying an additional 102,206 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 13.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,115,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the third quarter valued at $19,666,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the fourth quarter worth about $16,497,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 400,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $127,814,000 after purchasing an additional 39,263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.67.

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.