Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $2.09 Million Position in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MORN. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Morningstar by 685.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,219,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $264,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063,888 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Morningstar by 1,022.3% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 754,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $147,975,000 after buying an additional 687,459 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Morningstar by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,007,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,055,000 after buying an additional 380,391 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,798,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,622,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MORN. TheStreet raised Morningstar from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Morningstar Stock Performance

Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $294.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.89 and a beta of 1.15. Morningstar, Inc. has a one year low of $163.28 and a one year high of $316.05.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $538.70 million during the quarter. Morningstar had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 6.92%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morningstar news, Director Steven N. Kaplan sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.81, for a total transaction of $383,512.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 44,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,630,647.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.07, for a total value of $1,454,252.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 10,776,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,352,346,330.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven N. Kaplan sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.81, for a total value of $383,512.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,630,647.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,544 shares of company stock valued at $27,733,515. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

About Morningstar

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.