Kevin Shannon Acquires 10,000 Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Stock

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) Director Kevin Shannon purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.43 per share, with a total value of $194,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,700 shares in the company, valued at $110,751. The trade was a -232.56% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:MSDL traded down $0.13 on Wednesday, reaching $19.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 416,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,404. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.24. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $24.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. The firm had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.86 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.31%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is 91.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.0% during the first quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 26,921 shares of the company's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 9.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 37,314 shares of the company's stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.00.

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.