Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Shares Purchased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 127.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,913 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 55,908 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.11% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter worth $295,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at about $1,555,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3,509.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,872 shares of the company's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 28,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adams Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 152.0% during the 4th quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 62,992 shares of the company's stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 37,992 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group cut 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 research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.20.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 140,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,649. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $17.59 and a twelve month high of $24.18. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $19.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.24%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is 82.30%.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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.