Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 328,241 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 197,672 shares.The stock last traded at $20.85 and had previously closed at $20.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.07 and its 200 day moving average is $20.12.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.43%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,850,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,192,000 after buying an additional 70,076 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after acquiring an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth about $1,599,000. ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter worth about $1,589,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,555,000.

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.