CenterBook Partners LP Invests $1.10 Million in Morningstar, Inc. $MORN

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,098,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morningstar by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 626,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its holdings in Morningstar by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 391,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,003,000 after buying an additional 68,896 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Morningstar by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 318,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,891,000 after buying an additional 82,154 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,224,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 256,806 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Morningstar

Here are the key news stories impacting Morningstar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Appointment of Scott Brown as President, Direct Platform — a senior hire (effective Mar 2) intended to accelerate Morningstar’s direct/advisor platform growth; this could help expand subscription and platform revenues if execution succeeds. Morningstar Names Scott Brown as President of Direct Platform Business
• Positive Sentiment: Hired an Experian veteran to lead the direct platform push — another leadership move signaling focused investment in direct channels, which could improve client acquisition and margins over time. Morningstar taps Experian veteran to lead direct platform push
• Neutral Sentiment: Research product mention — Morningstar published its Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate for 2026 at 3.9%, reinforcing its role as a trusted research provider; useful for brand and client engagement but unlikely to move near-term revenue materially. Morningstar Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate For 2026 Is 3.9%
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target on MORN to $193 (from $257) — a material downward adjustment that reduces analyst-implied valuation and can trigger short-term selling or limit buying interest. BMO Capital Markets Lowers Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) Price Target to $193.00
• Negative Sentiment: Repeated insider sales by Chairman Joseph Mansueto (multiple Form 4 filings Feb 17–20 totaling small blocks at ~ $159–$162) — while the sales are tiny relative to his large remaining stake, they add to headline selling and can amplify short‑term downward pressure. SEC Form 4 filing (Mansueto insider sales)

Morningstar Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MORN opened at $159.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.95. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Morningstar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.08 and a twelve month high of $328.70.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $641.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 27.94%.

Morningstar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Morningstar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 6,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $1,066,134.72. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,170,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,318,204,914.36. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 69,223 shares of company stock worth $11,544,354 over the last ninety days. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MORN. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Morningstar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $257.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $280.00 price target on shares of Morningstar in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morningstar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.50.

Morningstar Company Profile

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.