11,074 Shares in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Acquired by Samalin Investment Counsel LLC

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $3,434,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth $3,051,000. Sfmg LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth $2,864,000. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $2,819,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,110,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.38.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 1.0 %

MSDL stock opened at $20.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.65. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $19.28 and a twelve month high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.63%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 82.30%.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending 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.