Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $3.05 Million Position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 147,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,051,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $271,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.16 on Friday, reaching $19.40. The stock had a trading volume of 418,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,457. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $24.18. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's fifty day moving average is $19.73 and its two-hundred day 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.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.31%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.20.

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.