Morningstar, Inc.'s SEC filings document formal disclosures for a public investment-research, data, ratings, indexes, and advisory-services company. Recent 8-K reports cover operating results, supplemental presentations, shareholder letters, Regulation FD investor Q&A materials, quarterly dividend declarations, and other material-event reporting.
Proxy and annual meeting filings document board composition, director elections, advisory executive-compensation votes, auditor ratification, and related governance matters. The company's filings also discuss capital-structure items, material agreements, and risk factors tied to brand independence, cybersecurity, data and information liability, artificial intelligence, strategic transactions, indebtedness, regulatory conditions, and business continuity.
Morningstar, Inc. reported strong first-quarter 2026 results with broad-based growth and margin expansion. Revenue rose 10.8% to $644.8 million, or 7.6% on an organic basis. Operating income increased 36.6% to $155.9 million, and adjusted operating income grew 31.9% to $178.6 million, lifting the adjusted operating margin to 27.7% from 23.3%.
Diluted net income per share climbed 50.0% to $2.73, while adjusted diluted EPS increased 42.6% to $3.18. Morningstar Credit led segment growth with 38.4% higher revenue and a 40.8% adjusted operating margin. Morningstar Retirement revenue grew 17.9% with a 51.0% adjusted margin, and Morningstar Direct Platform and PitchBook continued to drive scale, despite softer growth at PitchBook.
Free cash flow declined 8.8% to $53.6 million as capital expenditures rose, and debt increased to $1,712.8 million partly to fund the Center for Research in Security Prices acquisition. Morningstar returned substantial capital, repurchasing 1.72 million shares for $300.0 million and paying $19.9 million in dividends.
Morningstar, Inc. reported strong Q1 2026 results, with revenue rising 10.8% to $644.8 million and operating income up 36.6% to $155.9 million, lifting operating margin to 24.2% from 19.6%. Growth was broad-based, led by Morningstar Credit’s 38.4% revenue increase and solid gains in Morningstar Direct Platform and Retirement.
Net income climbed to $107.1 million, and diluted EPS reached $2.73. Organic revenue grew 7.6%, while adjusted operating margin improved to 27.7%, reflecting operating leverage despite higher compensation and technology costs.
The company closed the $363.0 million acquisition of CRSP, adding significant intangible assets and goodwill, funded largely through its 2025 Credit Agreement. Total debt increased to $1.71 billion, with funded indebtedness to EBITDA at about 2.0x, while Morningstar returned $300.0 million via share repurchases and paid $19.9 million in dividends.
Morningstar, Inc. reported 2025 results showing revenue of $2,445.5 million and reported revenue growth of 7.5% (8.0% organic).
The company posted higher operating and adjusted operating income (up 8.6% and 18.0%), net income per diluted share $8.87, and adjusted net income per diluted share $9.86. Free cash flow was $442.6 million. Morningstar repurchased 3,276,578 shares for $787.0 million (avg $240.17) and reduced shares outstanding by 7.3% in 2025. Debt increased $374.0 million, net, and a multicurrency credit agreement provides up to $1.5 billion of borrowing capacity.
Strategic activity included acquisitions (Lumonic, DealX, CRSP acquisition closed Feb 2026), expansion of AI integrations and product initiatives, and 10,973 permanent full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Morningstar, Inc. is asking shareholders to elect 10 directors, approve executive compensation on an advisory basis, and ratify KPMG as independent auditor at its May 7, 2026 annual meeting. The record date is March 9, 2026, and the meeting will be held in Chicago with a live webcast.
The Board will have 10 members, about 80% independent, with mandatory retirement at 73 after 10 years’ service and strict overboarding limits. Executive pay is heavily performance-based, with about 92% of the CEO’s 2025 target compensation and 79% for other named executives tied to incentives and equity.
For 2025, Morningstar reported Adjusted Revenue of $2,430.6 million and Adjusted Operating Income of $778.6 million, above targets, producing formulaic bonus funding of 115.5% that was reduced to 111.4% after negative discretion. Market stock units granted in 2022 paid out below target, reflecting weaker total shareholder return.
Morningstar manages or advises about $378 billion in assets and operates in 32 countries. As of December 31, 2025, it had 10,973 full-time employees, global turnover of 17%, and an engagement score that rose to 66% from 64% in 2024.
Morningstar Inc: The Vanguard Group filed Amendment No. 3 to its Schedule 13G/A, reporting beneficial ownership of 0 shares of Morningstar Inc common stock, representing 0% of the class. The amendment explains an internal realignment that disaggregated certain subsidiaries and business divisions in reliance on SEC Release No. 34-39538 (January 12, 1998), and states those subsidiaries will report beneficial ownership separately. The filing is signed by Ashley Grim, Head of Global Fund Administration.
Morningstar, Inc. furnished an Investor Q&A that explains its strategy, risk factors, and governance ahead of the 2026 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. The company emphasizes a long-term competitive moat built on large human‑curated datasets, analyst research, proprietary ratings frameworks, and software platforms increasingly enhanced with AI tools.
The Q&A notes diversified revenue streams, with Morningstar Retirement, Morningstar Credit, and Morningstar Wealth together providing roughly one third of 2025 revenue and adjusted operating income, growing revenue 7.4% versus 2024. Morningstar Credit’s 2025 revenue mix was 61% structured finance, 33% corporate and fundamental ratings, and 6% licensed data, with unpublished private ratings roughly one quarter of ratings revenue.
The company discusses margin and expense trends tied to an office‑focused culture with four in‑office days weekly, describes disciplined PitchBook pricing and growth driven by platform and direct data products, and highlights that senior leaders hold meaningful equity, with infrequent open‑market sales and a disclosed purchase of 1,000 shares by the CFO in early March.
Morningstar, Inc. announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per share, the same level as the dividend paid in January. The dividend will be paid on April 30, 2026 to shareholders of record as of April 3, 2026.
Morningstar describes itself as a leading provider of independent investment insights with approximately $378 billion in assets under management and advisement as of December 31, 2025, operating through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries.
Morningstar, Inc. Chief Financial Officer Michael Holt reported an open-market purchase of company stock. On March 4, 2026, he bought 1,000 shares of Morningstar common stock at an average price of $186.59 per share, increasing his direct ownership to 9,480 shares.
Holt Michael reported acquisition or exercise transactions in this Form 4 filing.
Morningstar, Inc. reported that its Chief Financial Officer, Michael Holt, received a grant of 684 restricted stock units of common stock for no cash payment. Each unit represents the right to receive one Morningstar share and vests in full on September 1, 2027.
After this award, Holt directly holds 8,480 shares and units in total. This figure includes 2,204 securities that were listed in his initial Form 3 but were inadvertently left out of the beneficial ownership totals in later Form 4 filings.
Wiersema Conan reported acquisition or exercise transactions in this Form 4 filing.
Morningstar, Inc. chief accounting and principal accounting officer Conan Wiersema reported an award of 301 restricted stock units of common stock on March 1, 2026. These units carry no purchase price and vest in full on September 1, 2027 under the award agreement.
After this grant, Wiersema beneficially owns 2,286 shares, including 114 restricted stock units from a May 15, 2025 grant that were previously omitted from reported holdings in later filings.