Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

MSDL has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In related news, Director Adam S. Metz purchased 28,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.67 per share, with a total value of $499,142.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 28,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,142.16. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Jr. Occi purchased 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.78 per share, with a total value of $248,920.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,270. This represents a 186.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 57,907 shares of company stock worth $1,025,013 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TT Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 19.6% in the second quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 237,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,451,000 after purchasing an additional 38,990 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1.8% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 49,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. HRT Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 123.0% during the 2nd quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 176,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 97,279 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 33.4% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 28,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE MSDL opened at $16.91 on Friday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $16.80 and a 1-year high of $21.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.16 and a 200-day moving average of $19.02.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.02). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 42.65% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The business had revenue of $99.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.99 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.8%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.63%.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

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.