9,689 Shares in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Acquired by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at about $229,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $258,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth about $271,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $286,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSDL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock opened at $19.11 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.43.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is 82.30%.

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.