Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 568,251 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 208% from the previous session’s volume of 184,312 shares.The stock last traded at $20.35 and had previously closed at $19.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion and a P/E ratio of 7.96. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.03.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 78.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at about $68,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at about $245,000.

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.