Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives $19.70 Consensus PT from Analysts

Key Points

• The Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) has a consensus rating of "Hold" from six analysts, with target prices ranging from $17.00 to $21.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.50 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, and its dividend payout ratio stands at 103.63%, with a quarterly dividend of $0.50 announced.
• Insider buying activity has increased, with directors purchasing over 33,000 shares in August, indicating confidence in the stock's future performance.

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.70.

MSDL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund stock traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, reaching $18.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 560,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.34. The business's fifty day moving average price is $18.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.38. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $17.37 and a twelve month high of $21.75.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 42.65% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The firm had revenue of $99.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.99 million. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's payout ratio is currently 103.63%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In related news, CEO Michael Jr. Occi acquired 14,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.78 per share, with a total value of $248,920.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $382,270. The trade was a 186.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joan Binstock acquired 5,659 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.68 per share, with a total value of $100,051.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,957.68. This represents a 16.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 67,907 shares of company stock worth $1,219,313 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 62.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 225.0% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

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.