Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 71,855 Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,922,174 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,855 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 2.17% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $39,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $2,110,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter worth about $1,780,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 164,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,389,000 after buying an additional 83,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,589,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of MSDL stock traded up $0.21 on Monday, hitting $20.87. 445,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,374. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion and a PE ratio of 8.18. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a one year low of $19.05 and a one year high of $24.18. 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's 50 day moving average is $20.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.42.

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.