Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

MLAB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MLAB opened at $135.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $735.14 million, a P/E ratio of -2.88 and a beta of 0.85. Mesa Laboratories has a 52-week low of $82.86 and a 52-week high of $141.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.06.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.55. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 111.89% and a positive return on equity of 18.95%. The firm had revenue of $58.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is -1.36%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In related news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $187,375.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 35.2% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 741 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

Mesa Laboratories, Inc develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and services life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment offers biological, chemical, and cleaning indicators, used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization decontamination, disinfection, and cleaning processes in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare industries.