Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 37,000 shares, a drop of 77.5% from the January 15th total of 164,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 528,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $68,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $84,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $103,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSDL traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.87. 445,813 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 686,374. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $19.05 and a twelve month high of $24.18. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion and a PE ratio of 8.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.42.

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.