Arizona State Retirement System Buys 69 Shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $2,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Morningstar by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,201,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,489,000 after purchasing an additional 102,206 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Morningstar by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 950,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,327,000 after buying an additional 5,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Morningstar by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 804,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,666,000 after buying an additional 28,698 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 13.9% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 696,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,115,000 after buying an additional 85,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morningstar by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 497,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,772,000 after acquiring an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MORN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Morningstar from $387.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morningstar

In other news, CFO Jason Dubinsky sold 3,223 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.88, for a total value of $1,137,332.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,106,235.52. This trade represents a 15.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 9,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.10, for a total value of $2,728,568.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 10,047,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,025,251,665.20. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 53,703 shares of company stock worth $17,349,106 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Stock Performance

MORN opened at $290.65 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. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $281.37 and a 52-week high of $365.00. The firm has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.40 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $323.48 and its 200-day moving average is $329.78.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.81 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 23.28%.

Morningstar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. 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 21.24%.

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.