Captrust Financial Advisors Raises Stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,986 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,993 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,922,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,712,000 after purchasing an additional 71,855 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 1,987.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company's stock worth $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 335,800 shares during the period. 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 grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 164,060 shares of the company's stock worth $3,389,000 after buying an additional 83,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $3,434,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE:MSDL traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.37. 385,347 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 615,368. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.46. The business's 50-day moving average price is $19.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.33. 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 (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.86 million. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is currently 91.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.