UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 6, 2013
MORNINGSTAR, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Illinois |
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000-51280 |
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36-3297908 |
(State or other jurisdiction |
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(Commission |
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(I.R.S. Employer |
of incorporation) |
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File Number) |
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Identification No.) |
22 West Washington Street |
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Chicago, Illinois |
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60602 |
(Address of principal executive offices) |
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(Zip Code) |
(312) 696-6000
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)
Item 8.01. Other Events.
On December 6, 2013, Morningstar issued a press release announcing that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of 17 cents per share payable January 31, 2014 to shareholders of record as of January 10, 2014 and an increase to the companys share repurchase authorization from $500 million to $700 million. A copy of the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits:
Exhibit No. |
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Description |
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99.1 |
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Press Release dated December 6, 2013. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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MORNINGSTAR, INC. | |
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Date: December 9, 2013 |
By: |
/s/ Richard E. Robbins |
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Name: |
Richard E. Robbins |
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Title: |
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary |
Exhibit 99.1
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Media Contact:
Margaret Kirch Cohen, +1 312-696-6383 or margaret.cohen@morningstar.com
Investors may submit questions to investors@morningstar.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Morningstar, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend; Increases Dividend to 17 Cents Per Share and Share Repurchase Program by $200 Million
CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2013The board of directors of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today declared a quarterly dividend of 17 cents per share payable Jan. 31, 2014 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 10, 2014. The declaration reflects an increase in the quarterly dividend to 17 cents per share from 12.5 cents.
While subsequent dividends will be subject to board approval, the company expects to pay three additional dividends in 2014:
Record Date |
Payable Date |
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April 11, 2014 |
April 30, 2014 |
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July 11, 2014 |
July 31, 2014 |
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Oct. 10, 2014 |
Oct. 31, 2014 |
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Morningstars board also approved an increase to the companys total share repurchase authorization from $500 million to $700 million. Since Morningstar announced its share repurchase program in October 2010, it has repurchased a total of 6.0 million shares for approximately $370.4 million. Of the $700 million total now authorized under the program, $329.6 million remains for future repurchases.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 437,000 offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 10 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its registered investment advisor subsidiaries and has approximately $176 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2013. The company has operations in 27 countries.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as may, could, expect, intend, plan, seek, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential, or continue. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, general industry conditions and competition, including current global financial uncertainty; the impact of market volatility on revenue from asset-based fees; damage to our reputation resulting from claims made about possible conflicts of interest; liability for any losses that result from an actual or claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; financial services industry consolidation; liability related to the storage of personal information about our users; a prolonged outage of our database and network facilities; challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations; the availability of free or low-cost investment information; and liability and/or damage to our reputation as a result of some of our currently pending litigation. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.
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©2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MORN-C