Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Target Price at $21.38

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.10.

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSDL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

MSDL stock opened at $19.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.44. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 82.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,922,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,712,000 after buying an additional 71,855 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 1,987.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,287,000 after acquiring an additional 335,800 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 207.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 237,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 160,536 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 102.9% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 164,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 83,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,434,000.

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.