Insider Selling: Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Sells 4,080 Shares of Stock

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 4,080 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.46, for a total value of $1,319,716.80. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,072,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,192,525.48. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.8 %

MORN opened at $313.72 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $281.37 and a one year high of $365.00. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $327.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $330.17. 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 (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. 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 currently 24.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morningstar

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at $915,000. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 98,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,116,000 after acquiring an additional 9,658 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 795.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 20,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,937,000 after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,203,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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