Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 377.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,822 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.14% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 16.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,780,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,898,000 after acquiring an additional 250,167 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company's stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $377,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSDL. UBS Group cut Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $23.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 Friday, July 26th. Finally, 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 Friday, September 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of MSDL traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.84. 446,100 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,421. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.68. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $19.05 and a fifty-two week high of $24.18. The business's 50 day moving average is $19.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 60.60% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $104.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.