Millennium Management LLC Reduces Stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,392 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,279 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $2,715,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 257.1% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 52,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 37,970 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 17,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 6,595 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 15,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $386,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

MSDL stock opened at $19.47 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.26. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $101.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.27%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 91.74%.

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.