PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 24,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $245,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $271,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.2 %

MSDL stock opened at $20.58 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.07 and a beta of 0.65. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $19.28 and a twelve month high of $24.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.70 and a 200-day moving average of $20.50.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.72%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 82.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSDL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.38.

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.