Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 328,241 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 197,672 shares.The stock last traded at $20.85 and had previously closed at $20.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 1.8 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01. 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 business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $295,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at about $437,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000.

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.