Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Stock Price Down 0.4% - Here's What Happened

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) traded down 0.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $19.81 and last traded at $19.85. 119,145 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 145,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSDL has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $23.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion and a PE ratio of 6.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $20.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.66.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.63. The business had revenue of $104.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 60.60% and a return on equity of 12.57%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $377,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter worth about $646,000.

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.