Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Given New $19.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 1.40% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MSDL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.20.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $19.27. 38,596 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 643,927. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $19.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 26,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth $66,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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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