Raymond James & Associates Raises Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) by 377.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.14% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 16.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,780,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,898,000 after acquiring an additional 250,167 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 12,076 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth $223,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MSDL opened at $19.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion and a PE ratio of 6.61. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $19.05 and a 12 month high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63. The business had revenue of $104.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 60.60%. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.42.

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.