68,785 Shares in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Purchased by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 68,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,421,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.08% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3,509.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,872 shares of the company's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 28,072 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter worth approximately $511,000. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter worth $1,780,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,555,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $295,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSDL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE MSDL traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.53. 562,500 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,888. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.44. 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 has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.79%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.