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

by · The Markets Daily

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL – Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 129,300 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the November 30th total of 162,500 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 418,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 364,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.05 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.24.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Read Our Latest Research Report on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,780,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,898,000 after acquiring an additional 250,167 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the third quarter worth $377,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 377.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, ASB Consultores LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,589,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

(Get Free Report)

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.

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