Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Target Price at $21.42

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.42.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at about $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth about $223,000. Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $377,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $510,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of MSDL opened at $20.02 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.05. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.05 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion and a PE ratio of 6.74.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 67.34%.

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.