Stifel Financial Corp Acquires 31,862 Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Free Report) by 82.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,487 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,862 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 1,987.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company's stock worth $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 335,800 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $3,434,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 207.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 237,754 shares of the company's stock worth $4,912,000 after buying an additional 160,536 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,051,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,864,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE MSDL traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.62. 1,001,462 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 632,619. 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 has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.35.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.74%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSDL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.20.

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.