Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) is expected to be releasing its results after the market closes on Thursday, November 6th. Analysts expect Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund to post earnings of $0.49 per share and revenue of $98.5450 million for the quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $99.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.99 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 42.65% and a return on equity of 11.24%. On average, analysts expect Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSDL opened at $17.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.48. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $15.70 and a 52-week high of $21.75.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s payout ratio is currently 103.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, Director David N. Miller bought 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 17,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,701.92. This represents a 139.51% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Jr. Occi purchased 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.78 per share, with a total value of $248,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $382,270. This trade represents a 186.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 66,937 shares of company stock valued at $1,175,272. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 49,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. HRT Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 123.0% during the 2nd quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 176,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 97,279 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $257,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 28,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $299,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSDL. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $17.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund 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.