Morningstar, Inc. $MORN Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 12.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,367 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $5,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 23.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in Morningstar by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morningstar by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 28.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Morningstar by 7.4% during the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 1,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $274,072.32. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,600,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,005,692.80. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 63,750 shares of company stock worth $13,537,223 in the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morningstar Stock Up 2.0%

MORN stock opened at $213.89 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $215.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.08. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $202.89 and a 52 week high of $350.92. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s payout ratio is presently 20.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MORN. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.00.

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.