Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Shares Acquired by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 313.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,678 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 67,251 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $39,712,000 after purchasing an additional 71,855 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 1,987.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 335,800 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 207.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 237,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 160,536 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 102.9% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 164,060 shares of the company's stock worth $3,389,000 after acquiring an additional 83,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,434,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.47. The company had a trading volume of 828,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,714. 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 cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $19.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.27%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is 91.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSDL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.00.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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.