LM Advisors LLC Sells 17,856 Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

LM Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) by 45.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,856 shares during the period. LM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSDL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3,509.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 28,072 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth $511,000. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter worth about $1,780,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,555,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $295,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSDL opened at $20.67 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.68 and a 200 day moving average of $20.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 0.65. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $19.28 and a 12 month high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.68%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSDL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Monday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.38.

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.