Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Cut to Sector Perform at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $18.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $19.00.

MSDL has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $18.50 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $17.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Performance

NYSE:MSDL opened at $17.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 12-month low of $15.70 and a 12-month high of $21.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.11.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 35.92%.The company had revenue of $99.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.55 million. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s payout ratio is currently 121.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In related news, Director Joan Binstock bought 9,030 shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.64 per share, for a total transaction of $150,259.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,698.88. This trade represents a 22.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Keystone Financial Group acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 3rd quarter worth $72,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 229.4% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 16,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 11,700 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the third quarter valued at $435,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 213,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares during the period.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

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.