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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 128,582 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session's volume of 153,144 shares.The stock last traded at $20.00 and had previously closed at $19.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSDL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $23.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.07.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 60.60%. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is 67.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Cliffwater LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at $47,035,000. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at $32,973,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at $646,000. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at about $377,000.

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.