Confluence Investment Management LLC Takes $510,000 Position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 25,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSDL. Cliffwater LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter worth about $47,035,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,850,319 shares of the company's stock worth $36,192,000 after acquiring an additional 70,076 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company's stock worth $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares during the last quarter. ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,589,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company's stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.24. 571,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 179,596. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion and a PE ratio of 6.81.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63. The firm had revenue of $104.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 60.60% and a return on equity of 12.57%. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is 67.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $23.50 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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.