Millennium Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Millennium Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,392 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,279 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 515.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 5,671 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MSDL stock opened at $19.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.26. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. On average, equities research 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 will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 91.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

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.