Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Large Volume Increase - Time to Buy?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 398,803 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 188% from the previous session's volume of 138,324 shares.The stock last traded at $20.13 and had previously closed at $20.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 0.2 %

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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion and a PE ratio of 6.48.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid 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 (DPR) is 64.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,973,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $646,000. Cliffwater LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter worth $47,035,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000.

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.