Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Trading Down 7.5% on Insider Selling

by · The Cerbat Gem

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORNGet Free Report)’s share price traded down 7.5% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $162.43 and last traded at $162.5530. 147,924 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 557,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.82.

Specifically, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $1,275,710.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,095,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,570,400.40. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 4,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.08, for a total transaction of $708,674.16. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,103,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,921,739.20. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.23, for a total transaction of $1,205,167.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 8,114,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,348,872,005.16. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MORN. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.50.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Morningstar

Morningstar News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Morningstar’s research was referenced in articles highlighting strong demand for dividend strategies and the outperformance of cheaper funds, reinforcing the value of its analytics franchise. Article
  • Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS and revenue both coming in above analyst forecasts, supporting the underlying business outlook.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Morningstar also published several market commentary pieces, including “25 New 4-Star Stocks This Week,” which reinforce its research presence but are not direct stock catalysts. Article
  • Negative Sentiment: Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 4,002 shares in one transaction and 7,250 shares in another, which may be viewed as a mild bearish signal despite both sales being part of a Rule 10b5-1 plan. SEC filing

Morningstar Stock Down 7.9%

The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.35.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORNGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $644.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.91 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 33.14%.

Institutional Trading of Morningstar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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