Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $6.86 Million Holdings in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,955 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $6,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 2nd quarter valued at $93,224,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morningstar by 691.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,286,000 after buying an additional 256,806 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 266.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,190,000 after acquiring an additional 204,277 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Morningstar by 22,716.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 162,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,512,000 after acquiring an additional 161,968 shares during the period. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 21.3% in the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,003,000 after acquiring an additional 68,896 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Morningstar Stock Down 1.6%

MORN stock opened at $201.24 on Friday. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.34 and a fifty-two week high of $335.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.61.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its 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. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 25.07%. The company had revenue of $617.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.29 million.

Morningstar Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.75%.

Insider Activity at Morningstar

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,250 shares of Morningstar 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,693,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,842,601,101.75. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 64,350 shares of company stock worth $13,668,311 over the last quarter. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Morningstar

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.