Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 98,753 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 190,103 shares.The stock last traded at $20.23 and had previously closed at $20.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSDL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Friday, September 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.4 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.08. 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 company has a market cap of $1.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.43%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,780,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,898,000 after purchasing an additional 250,167 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,599,000. ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,589,000. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $515,000.

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.