Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $147.34 and last traded at $147.34, with a volume of 8178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MLAB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Up 2.2 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $771.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.12 and a beta of 0.82.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,213,794.56. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mesa Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

About Mesa Laboratories

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.