Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 147,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,051,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSDL. Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 2,953.8% in the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 104,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 101,079 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $1,918,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 8,830 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,819,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSDL opened at $20.71 on Friday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.28 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.66%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSDL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

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.