Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Target Price at $21.38

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.10.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSDL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, hitting $18.53. 562,500 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,888. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $24.18. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.43.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter worth $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 515.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 5,671 shares during the period.

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.