Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Downgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to Sector Perform

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) was downgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 5.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $17.00 target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $18.50 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Down 0.8%

MSDL stock opened at $17.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.26. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $15.70 and a 12 month high of $21.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 35.92% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The firm had revenue of $99.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund news, Director Joan Binstock purchased 9,030 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.64 per share, for a total transaction of $150,259.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 50,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,698.88. This trade represents a 22.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the third quarter worth $32,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 62.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the 3rd quarter worth $57,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

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.