Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Morningstar by 326.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morningstar during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 101.7% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $352.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group started coverage on Morningstar in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.22, for a total transaction of $2,974,329.64. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,845,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,781,561.96. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William M. Lyons sold 750 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.88, for a total value of $248,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,339.20. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,188 shares of company stock worth $16,823,772 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of MORN stock opened at $352.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 46.62 and a beta of 1.19. Morningstar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $269.51 and a 1 year high of $362.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $343.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $319.11.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $569.40 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 14.69%.

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 paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Morningstar 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.