Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Shares Bought by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 257.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,741 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,970 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,555,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3,509.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 28,072 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 25,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shikiar Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSDL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.20.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $19.97. 354,487 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 620,981. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $17.59 and a twelve month high of $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.33.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.04). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.86 million. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.02%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.74%.

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.