Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL – Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.6250.

MSDL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th.

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Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 53.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 155,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 53,902 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 682.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 198,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,000 after acquiring an additional 173,292 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 83.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 11,923 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the second quarter worth about $118,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 35.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 13,186 shares during the period.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of MSDL opened at $15.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.31. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 12-month low of $13.66 and a 12-month high of $19.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $58.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.89 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 9.73%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 178.22%.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company Profile

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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.

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