Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.58.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company's stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 25,969 shares of the company's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 6,901 shares during the period.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSDL traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.00. The company had a trading volume of 264,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 619,652. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $19.05 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion and a P/E ratio of 8.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.35.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $109.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.55 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is 78.43%.

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.

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