Joseph D. Mansueto Sells 9,062 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total value of $2,962,005.32. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 10,109,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,429,412.62. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morningstar Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of MORN opened at $322.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Morningstar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $273.56 and a 12-month high of $365.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $329.39.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company 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 is Friday, October 3rd. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,803,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $944,144,000 after acquiring an additional 51,598 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 102,206 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Morningstar by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $363,903,000 after buying an additional 130,087 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Morningstar by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,666,000 after buying an additional 28,698 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.