Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 129,300 shares, a decline of 20.4% from the November 30th total of 162,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 418,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter worth about $68,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Friday, September 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.42.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $21.35. 315,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 216,876. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.23. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $19.05 and a 52 week high of $24.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion and a P/E ratio of 8.37.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.43%.

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.