Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,850,319 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,076 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 2.07% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $36,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter worth $32,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $377,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $646,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

NYSE:MSDL traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 447,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,781. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.05.

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, 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 business had revenue of $104.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $23.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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.