Insider Selling: Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 9,062 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.86, for a total transaction of $2,962,005.32. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 10,109,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,429,412.62. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Morningstar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ: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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.54. The company has a market cap of $13.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59 and a beta of 1.20. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $273.56 and a fifty-two week high of $365.00.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MORN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,694,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,584,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,694,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Morningstar by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,080,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $363,903,000 after purchasing an additional 130,087 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Morningstar by 9.3% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 102,206 shares during the period. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.