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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.5833.

Several research firms have recently commented on MSDL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $18.50 to $16.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSDL opened at $14.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 45.48 and a quick ratio of 45.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.61 and a 200-day moving average of $16.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.34. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $14.25 and a fifty-two week high of $20.90.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The firm had revenue of $49.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.30 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 30.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, CEO Michael Jr. Occi bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.87 per share, with a total value of $104,090.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff M. Day purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.89 per share, for a total transaction of $74,450.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 22,818 shares in the company, valued at $339,760.02. This trade represents a 28.06% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1.8% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 49,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 43,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 72,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the period.

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.