Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• The Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) received an average rating of "Hold" from six rating firms, with one sell, four holds, and one buy recommendation.
• Insider purchases included 10,000 shares by Director David N. Miller and 14,000 shares by CEO Michael Jr. Occi, showing significant increases in ownership percentages.
• The fund announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, translating to an annual yield of 11.4%, although its payout ratio currently stands at 103.63%.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Adam S. Metz purchased 28,248 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.67 per share, with a total value of $499,142.16. Following the purchase, the director owned 28,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,142.16. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Jr. Occi acquired 14,000 shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.78 per share, with a total value of $248,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $382,270. This trade represents a 186.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 57,907 shares of company stock valued at $1,025,013 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 99.9% in the 2nd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 1,761,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,984,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 114.2% in the second quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 455,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,529,000 after acquiring an additional 242,931 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 3.1% in the second quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 378,154 shares of the company's stock worth $7,079,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 85.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 370,759 shares of the company's stock worth $6,941,000 after purchasing an additional 170,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 350,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 26,652 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSDL traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.52. The stock had a trading volume of 873,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 625,931. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 12-month low of $17.33 and a 12-month high of $21.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.08.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 42.65%.The business had revenue of $99.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.99 million. On average, equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.4%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio is 103.63%.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company 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.