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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report)'s stock price 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 changed hands during trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 388,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSDL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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 simple moving average of $19.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $101.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.86 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's payout ratio is currently 91.74%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, Director Kevin Shannon purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.43 per share, with a total value of $194,300.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,751. This represents a -232.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,051,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $511,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,117 shares of the company's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 11,217 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 4th quarter worth $2,864,000.

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.