Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sets New 1-Year High at $23.06

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $23.06 and last traded at $23.06, with a volume of 8465 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.50 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion and a PE ratio of 7.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.54.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $100.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.34 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 62.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

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.