Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

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

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 2.1 %

Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $102.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $556.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.25 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Mesa Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $83.68 and a fifty-two week high of $141.17.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,794.56. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $183,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

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.