Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Shares Down 0%

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) shares traded down 0% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $23.53 and last traded at $23.56. 31,366 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 32,519 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.92.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion and a PE ratio of 7.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 62.34%. The business had revenue of $99.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.65 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,973,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $646,000. Cliffwater LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,035,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth about $223,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.