Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 264,000 shares, an increase of 80.6% from the March 15th total of 146,200 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 699,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 101.8% in the first quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,850 shares of the company's stock worth $3,470,000 after acquiring an additional 87,700 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 38.7% during the first quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 10,059 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 45.0% during the first quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,908 shares of the company's stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 6,803 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 313.9% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,678 shares of the company's stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 67,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSDL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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 Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of MSDL traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.02. 147,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 667,815. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.42. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 0.44.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.02 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.52%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.30%.

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.