Short Interest in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Expands By 101.7%

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 146,200 shares, an increase of 101.7% from the February 28th total of 72,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 617,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,922,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,712,000 after buying an additional 71,855 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 1,987.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,287,000 after acquiring an additional 335,800 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 207.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 237,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 160,536 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 102.9% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 164,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 83,217 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth $3,434,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSDL traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.71. The company had a trading volume of 579,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,889. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.28 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 82.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.