Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives $17.58 Average Price Target from Analysts

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.5833.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSDL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.00 target price (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $18.50 price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund stock opened at $16.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.26. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $15.70 and a twelve month high of $21.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.39.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $99.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.55 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 35.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In related news, CIO Ashwin Krishnan purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.72 per share, for a total transaction of $50,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,160. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSDL. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 53.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 155,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after buying an additional 53,902 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 682.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 198,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,000 after purchasing an additional 173,292 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 27.3% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 4,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 72.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 40,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $301,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company Profile

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide investors with attractive current income and the potential for capital appreciation. The fund primarily invests in senior secured loans and other debt instruments issued by middle-market companies. By focusing on floating-rate structures, it aims to offer a measure of protection against rising interest rates while generating regular cash distributions.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on building a diversified portfolio of direct lending opportunities across a broad range of industries, including healthcare, business services, and industrials.