Sfmg LLC Invests $2.86 Million in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Sfmg LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 138,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,864,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth approximately $213,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth approximately $245,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth approximately $271,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSDL opened at $20.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.28 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.50.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued 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 net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.02 million. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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