Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Invests $756,000 in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at about $344,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSDL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

NYSE:MSDL opened at $18.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.44. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.30%.

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.