Short Interest in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Decreases By 21.0%

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 47,500 shares, a drop of 21.0% from the August 31st total of 60,100 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 187,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Cliffwater LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth approximately $47,035,000. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $32,973,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $646,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $223,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

MSDL stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.02. 131,700 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 136,985. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.46. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $19.05 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 60.60% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $104.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MSDL shares. UBS Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.42.

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.