25,777 Shares in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Acquired by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 25,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter worth approximately $223,000. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter worth approximately $377,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock opened at $20.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $19.05 and a 52 week high of $24.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.95 and a 200-day moving average of $20.03.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 60.60%. The firm had revenue of $104.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 is 67.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.42.

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.