Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sets New 52-Week High at $23.45

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Saturday . The company traded as high as $23.45 and last traded at $23.05, with a volume of 64600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSDL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.50 price target on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 1.1 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion and a P/E ratio of 7.44.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63. The business had revenue of $99.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.65 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 62.34%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSDL. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth approximately $223,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth about $646,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,973,000. Finally, Cliffwater LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $47,035,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Company Profile

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.