Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 98,753 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 190,103 shares.The stock last traded at $20.23 and had previously closed at $20.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.02 and its 200-day moving average is $20.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.43%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSDL. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,850,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,192,000 after buying an additional 70,076 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $1,599,000. ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $1,589,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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.