Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Price Target to $20.00

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $21.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.20% from the stock’s previous close.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of MSDL stock opened at $20.04 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $19.28 and a 52 week high of $24.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.48.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $68,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 515.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 5,671 shares during the period.

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.