Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sets New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.21 and last traded at $19.25, with a volume of 389501 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $20.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.47. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.30%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at about $66,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 26,921 shares of the company's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $494,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth $2,715,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

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.