Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Trading 0.1% Higher - Time to Buy?

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $19.15 and last traded at $19.08. 470,088 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 388,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.00.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.34.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 47.65%. The company had revenue of $101.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.86 million. Sell-side 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 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.74%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, Director Kevin Shannon purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.43 per share, for a total transaction of $194,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1,987.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,287,000 after buying an additional 335,800 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 682.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 198,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,966,000 after buying an additional 173,292 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 207.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 237,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,912,000 after buying an additional 160,536 shares in the last quarter. TT Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 332.3% during the first quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 198,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,967,000 after buying an additional 152,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,051,000.

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.

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