Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Purchases Shares of 36,000 Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 36,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $344,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $316,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company's stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSDL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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 Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 0.9 %

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The firm's 50 day moving average is $20.14 and its 200 day moving average is $20.44. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 0.44.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.02 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

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.