Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Purchases 37,970 Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) by 257.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,741 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,970 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 13,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 4,462 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 34,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 4,573 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSDL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 0.3%

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock opened at $19.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 0.46.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.74%.

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.