Morningstar & Berkeley: A Calculated Risk

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Berkeley tossed a few million at Morningstar. Three point seven eight, to be precise. January’s SEC filings don’t lie, though they rarely tell the whole story. Seventeen thousand, three hundred and eighty-two shares. A calculated gamble in a market that’s forgotten how to add. It smelled like opportunity, or maybe just desperation. Either way, it caught my attention.

A new position, they’re calling it. One point two percent of their holdings. Not exactly betting the ranch, but enough to raise an eyebrow. Berkeley doesn’t usually play hunches. They prefer a sure thing, which, in this business, is about as common as an honest politician.

Their top holdings read like a who’s who of the cautiously optimistic. Invesco, Distillate, Visa… safe harbors in a rising tide. Eaton Vance and NVR are there, too, solid enough to keep the ship afloat. But Morningstar? That’s a different breed of cat. It’s a long-term play, the kind that requires patience – a virtue in short supply on Wall Street.

As of the twenty-eighth of January, Morningstar was down thirty-eight and a half percent over the last year. The S&P 500 left it choking on dust. A pretty picture? Hardly. But sometimes the best buys are the ones everyone else has already thrown away.

The Numbers, Cold and Hard

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $2.40 billion
Net income (TTM) $376.00 million
Dividend yield 0.91%
Price (Jan. 28, 2026) $204.66

Morningstar deals in information. Research, data, ratings… the stuff that keeps the markets ticking. They serve everyone from the corner broker to the institutional giants. A subscription model. Reliable, if the data holds up. They’re big, they’re established, and they’ve got a brand name that carries weight. That’s a foundation. But foundations can crack.

Berkeley’s move, in my estimation, is a bet on that foundation holding. The stock has outperformed the S&P 500 since 2005. A twelve and a half percent annualized return versus eleven. Not bad, not bad at all. Especially considering it’s currently trading at a discount. Down over forty percent from its peak. Sales growth is slowing, sure, but that’s often the signal for a smart entry.

The dividend yield is up to 0.91%, highest it’s been since 2020. A small comfort, perhaps, but a comfort nonetheless. It suggests the company is committed to returning value to shareholders, even in a downturn.

There’s a shadow hanging over these data-driven stocks, though. The AI question. Will they thrive, or be swallowed whole? The market is jittery, selling off anything that looks remotely vulnerable. It’s a legitimate concern, but I suspect the fear is overblown. AI won’t eliminate these companies; it’ll force them to adapt. And adaptation, my friend, is the key to survival.

Berkeley’s purchase is a calculated risk, and I respect that. I’d personally look at picking a few other winners in the data and software space. But it’s a solid move. The market is a messy place, and sometimes the best opportunities are hidden in plain sight. You just have to know where to look, and have the guts to act.

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2026-01-30 19:24