Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Price Target Cut to $19.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.30.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSDL opened at $17.69 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $17.37 and a fifty-two week high of $21.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.33.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.02). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 42.65% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The company had revenue of $99.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.99 million. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.3%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, Director Joan Binstock acquired 5,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.68 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $693,957.68. The trade was a 16.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David N. Miller acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.69 per share, with a total value of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,701.92. This trade represents a 139.51% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 57,907 shares of company stock worth $1,025,013. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 99.9% during the 2nd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 1,761,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,984,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 114.2% during the 2nd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 455,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,529,000 after acquiring an additional 242,931 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 378,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,079,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 85.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 370,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,941,000 after acquiring an additional 170,467 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 350,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,554,000 after acquiring an additional 26,652 shares during the period.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company 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.