Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Price Target Lowered to $20.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $21.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 8.64% from the stock’s current price.

MSDL has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

MSDL traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.41. 354,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 671,929. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $17.95 and a 1-year high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSDL. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $344,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $316,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% in 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, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $437,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

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.