Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Morningstar were worth $6,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 14.9% in the third quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at $299,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morningstar by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Morningstar by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 3rd quarter worth $294,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In related news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.95, for a total value of $1,536,637.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,693,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,842,601,101.75. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,350 shares of company stock worth $13,668,311. Corporate insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MORN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 target price on Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

Morningstar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $211.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $214.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.68. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $202.89 and a twelve month high of $335.21.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $617.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $603.29 million. Morningstar had a return on equity of 25.07% and a net margin of 15.70%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.75%.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.