Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Short Interest Update

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,865,809 shares, a growth of 21.9% from the March 15th total of 2,351,569 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 788,278 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSDL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Jr. Occi purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.87 per share, with a total value of $104,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 28,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,795. This represents a 32.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff M. Day acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.89 per share, for a total transaction of $74,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,760.02. This represents a 28.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 73.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,668,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,500,000 after purchasing an additional 704,394 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $10,719,000. American Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $8,759,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 487.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 543,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,734,000 after purchasing an additional 450,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $6,497,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSDL opened at $15.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.07. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $13.66 and a fifty-two week high of $20.00.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 30.73%.The business had revenue of $49.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.30 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide investors with attractive current income and the potential for capital appreciation. The fund primarily invests in senior secured loans and other debt instruments issued by middle-market companies. By focusing on floating-rate structures, it aims to offer a measure of protection against rising interest rates while generating regular cash distributions.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on building a diversified portfolio of direct lending opportunities across a broad range of industries, including healthcare, business services, and industrials.