XTX Topco Ltd Purchases New Stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 29,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $258,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MSDL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.40.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.39. 119,582 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 654,651. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.40. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $24.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $107.02 million. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.30%.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Company Profile

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.