Morningstar, Inc.
- Open
- 208.54
- Day high
- 212.74
- Day low
- 204.16
- Prev close
- 209.86
- Volume
- 40K
- Mkt cap
- $8.2B
- P/E (TTM)
- 20.6
- EPS (TTM)
- $10.17
- P/B
- 8.0
- P/S
- 3.2
- Yield
- 0.89%
- Per share
- $1.96
- ▼Insiders net selling -$20.7M over the last 3 months (0 open-market buys, 65 sales)
- 🏛Institutions mixed (13F)
Morningstar, Inc. (MORN) is a Financial Services company listed on NASDAQ. The stock is down 15% over the past year. Over the trailing 3 months, insiders filed 0 open-market buys and 65 sales (SEC Form 4).
Morningstar, Inc. (MORN) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
MORN earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | $2.83 | $3.10 | +9.3% | $663M | +2.0% |
| Apr 29, 2026 | $2.42 | $3.18 | +31.6% | $645M | +2.9% |
| Feb 12, 2026 | $2.51 | $2.71 | +8.0% | $641M | +4.1% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | $2.34 | $2.55 | +9.0% | $617M | -2.7% |
| Jul 30, 2025 | $2.21 | $2.40 | +8.6% | $605M | -0.1% |
| Apr 30, 2025 | $2.06 | $2.23 | +8.3% | $582M | -0.7% |
| Feb 26, 2025 | $2.06 | $2.14 | +3.9% | $591M | +1.7% |
| Oct 23, 2024 | $2.01 | $2.00 | -0.5% | $569M | -1.2% |
| Jul 24, 2024 | — | $2.01 | — | $571M | — |
| Feb 22, 2024 | — | $1.97 | — | $542M | — |
| Oct 25, 2023 | — | $1.28 | — | $516M | — |
| Jul 26, 2023 | — | $1.60 | — | $505M | — |
MORN insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 1,181 | $217.26 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 1,740 | $218.43 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 1,314 | $220.42 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 220 | $216.01 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 978 | $219.44 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 226 | $221.12 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 3,157 | $212.87 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 1,359 | $214.16 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 501 | $217.13 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 1,938 | $215.18 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 295 | $216.16 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 3,827 | $216.70 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 268 | $217.57 |
| Aug 19, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 426 | $211.52 |
| Aug 19, 2026 | Mansueto Joseph Ddirector, 10 percent owner, officer: Executive Chairman | Sell | 2,708 | $210.32 |
Source: MORN SEC Form 4 filings, latest Aug 24, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full MORN insider & 13F page →Morningstar, Inc. company profile
Overview
Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) is a Chicago-based financial services company founded in 1984 that has grown to become one of the world's leading providers of independent investment research and data. The company went public in 2005 and has since established itself as a trusted source of financial information for investors, financial advisors, and institutions across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Morningstar operates through multiple business segments, providing comprehensive investment analysis, data services, and technology platforms that help investors make informed decisions across various asset classes including stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and alternative investments.
Business
Morningstar operates in the financial data and investment research industry, serving as an independent provider of investment analysis and portfolio tools. The company's core mission is to help investors make better financial decisions by providing unbiased research, comprehensive data, and sophisticated analytical tools. The company's business is organized around several key segments. Morningstar Data represents the foundational offering, providing extensive databases covering equity fundamentals, managed investments, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, and real-time market data. This segment serves as the backbone for many of the company's other products and generates approximately 35-40% of total revenue. Morningstar Direct is the company's flagship institutional platform, offering comprehensive investment analysis tools for professional investors, asset managers, and financial advisors. This sophisticated workstation provides portfolio analysis, risk assessment, and research capabilities, contributing roughly 25-30% of revenue. PitchBook, acquired by Morningstar, focuses on private capital markets research and analysis. It provides data and analytics on private equity, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions activity. This segment has become increasingly important, representing approximately 20-25% of revenue. Morningstar Advisor Workstation and related advisor services cater to independent financial advisors, offering web-based research, financial planning tools, and model portfolios. These services generate around 10-15% of revenue. Additional offerings include Morningstar Credit Ratings, which provides credit analysis for structured finance products, Morningstar Indexes for creating investment products, and Morningstar.com, a consumer-facing website that serves individual investors with free and premium research content.
Revenue model
Morningstar operates primarily on a subscription-based business model, generating revenue through recurring fees from institutional clients, financial advisors, and individual investors who pay for access to its research, data, and analytical platforms. The company's revenue streams are diversified across multiple customer segments and product offerings. Institutional clients, including asset managers, pension funds, and insurance companies, represent the largest revenue source, paying substantial annual fees for access to Morningstar Direct and comprehensive data feeds. These contracts typically range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, depending on the scope of services and number of users. Financial advisors and broker-dealers pay subscription fees for Advisor Workstation and related services, with pricing typically based on the number of advisors and assets under management. Individual investors contribute through premium subscriptions to Morningstar.com and related consumer products. The company also generates revenue through licensing its data to third-party financial services companies, credit rating services for structured finance products, and index licensing fees from investment product providers who create funds based on Morningstar's proprietary indexes. Several factors influence Morningstar's margins and profitability. Market volatility and investor sentiment can affect demand for investment research and data services, with periods of market uncertainty often driving increased usage. The company benefits from economies of scale, as its data collection and research infrastructure can serve additional customers with relatively low marginal costs. Competition from Bloomberg, Refinitiv, and other financial data providers can pressure pricing, while regulatory changes requiring greater transparency in investment management can create new opportunities. Technology investments and acquisitions, such as the PitchBook purchase, require significant capital but can expand addressable markets and improve long-term margins.
Competitive moat
Morningstar possesses a moderately strong competitive moat built primarily on its reputation for independent research, comprehensive data coverage, and network effects. The company has established itself as a trusted, unbiased source of investment research over nearly four decades, which creates significant brand value in an industry where credibility is paramount. The company's extensive historical data and proprietary research methodologies create switching costs for institutional clients who have integrated Morningstar's systems into their investment processes. Financial advisors and asset managers often rely on Morningstar's star ratings and research reports, making it difficult to replace these tools without disrupting established workflows. Network effects provide additional protection, as Morningstar's large user base attracts more fund companies and investment managers to provide data, which in turn makes the platform more valuable to users. The company's global presence and relationships with thousands of investment managers create barriers for new entrants seeking to replicate this comprehensive coverage. However, Morningstar faces significant competitive threats from well-funded rivals like Bloomberg Terminal, which dominates institutional trading floors, and Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters), which offers competing data and analytics services. Technology companies like FactSet and newer entrants leveraging artificial intelligence and alternative data sources pose ongoing challenges. The company's moat is also somewhat vulnerable to regulatory changes and shifts in investor preferences toward passive investing, which could reduce demand for active research and analysis. The acquisition of PitchBook has strengthened Morningstar's position in private markets data, an area with higher barriers to entry due to the difficulty of collecting private company information. This represents one of the company's strongest moat segments, as comprehensive private markets data requires extensive industry relationships and specialized expertise.
Risks & safety
Morningstar demonstrates a solid financial position with moderate margin of safety considerations: • Liquidity and Solvency: Strong cash position of $503 million and positive free cash flow of $449 million in 2024. Current ratio of 1.01 indicates adequate short-term liquidity, though relatively tight. Debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56 represents manageable leverage levels. • Valuation Metrics: Trading at premium valuations with P/E ratio of 38.9x and EV/EBITDA of 20.7x, suggesting limited downside protection. Price-to-book ratio of 8.9x indicates significant premium to tangible assets. • Profitability Trends: Net income increased substantially from $141 million in 2023 to $370 million in 2024, showing strong earnings recovery. EBITDA margins improved to approximately 31% in 2024. • Other Considerations: Subscription-based revenue model provides predictable cash flows and reduces cyclical risk. However, high valuation multiples leave little room for disappointment, and the company's growth is tied to financial market conditions and institutional spending on research services.
Recent development
Over the past few years, Morningstar has focused on expanding its capabilities in private markets and enhancing its technology platforms. The company's most significant strategic move was the acquisition of PitchBook, which has become a major growth driver and established Morningstar as a leading provider of private capital markets data and research. The company has invested heavily in expanding its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) research capabilities, responding to growing institutional demand for sustainable investing data and analysis. This includes developing proprietary ESG scoring methodologies and expanding coverage of ESG factors across its research platforms. Morningstar has also prioritized international expansion, particularly in European and Asian markets, to diversify its revenue base and capture growth in these regions. The company has enhanced its direct indexing capabilities and expanded its model portfolio offerings to meet growing demand from financial advisors for customized investment solutions. Technology improvements have been a consistent focus, with ongoing investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance research capabilities and improve user experience across its platforms. The company has also worked to integrate its various acquisitions and create more seamless workflows between different product offerings. Recent financial performance shows the success of these strategic initiatives, with revenue growing from $1.87 billion in 2022 to $2.28 billion in 2024, while profitability improved significantly with net income increasing from $71 million to $370 million over the same period.
MORN company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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