Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 24,325 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 288.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,325 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.08% of Morningstar worth $11,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 178.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morningstar in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Morningstar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MORN opened at $298.12 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $278.64 and a one year high of $365.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $315.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.15. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.81 million.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Morningstar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Morningstar’s payout ratio is currently 21.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 3,635 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.44, for a total value of $1,182,974.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 10,142,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,838,335.36. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,544 shares of company stock worth $18,770,097. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

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.