Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 128,582 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 153,144 shares.The stock last traded at $20.00 and had previously closed at $19.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. 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 report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. The firm had revenue of $104.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 60.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cliffwater LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,035,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter worth $32,973,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,449,000 after buying an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $646,000. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at $377,000.

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.