Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Stock Price Down 0.4% - Time to Sell?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $19.83 and last traded at $19.87. 679,966 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 130% from the average session volume of 295,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. UBS Group downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $23.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion and a PE ratio of 6.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.05. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 60.60% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $104.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth approximately $646,000. Cliffwater LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at $47,035,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter.

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.