Activest Wealth Management Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 80,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,000. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending accounts for 0.5% of Activest Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 16.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,780,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,898,000 after buying an additional 250,167 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth approximately $1,589,000. Fountainhead AM LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at approximately $510,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 0.2 %

MSDL traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $20.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,265. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.03 and its 200-day moving average is $20.09. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSDL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.42.

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.