Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Shares Bought by Jane Street Group LLC

Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 175.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,146 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,216 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSDL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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 note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:MSDL traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $19.65. 51,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 594,930. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 0.46. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.31.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's 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.