ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Raises Position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 195.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,011 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,414 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.06% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSDL. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 334.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 125,416 shares of the company's stock worth $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 96,544 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 96.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 56,164 shares of the company's stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 27,552 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter valued at $2,864,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

MSDL stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 52,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 675,213. The company's fifty day moving average is $20.10 and its 200-day moving average is $20.43. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.44. 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 announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.10.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

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.