Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.5417.

MSDL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MSDL opened at $15.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10 and a beta of 0.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $13.66 and a 1-year high of $19.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $58.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.89 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 22.84%. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.8%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 178.22%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, CEO Michael Jr. Occi acquired 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.87 per share, for a total transaction of $104,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 28,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,795. The trade was a 32.56% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff M. Day acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.89 per share, with a total value of $74,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,760.02. This trade represents a 28.06% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSDL. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 155,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after buying an additional 53,902 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 682.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 198,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,000 after buying an additional 173,292 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 11,923 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 13,186 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company Profile

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide investors with attractive current income and the potential for capital appreciation. The fund primarily invests in senior secured loans and other debt instruments issued by middle-market companies. By focusing on floating-rate structures, it aims to offer a measure of protection against rising interest rates while generating regular cash distributions.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on building a diversified portfolio of direct lending opportunities across a broad range of industries, including healthcare, business services, and industrials.