Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Stock Price Up 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) rose 9.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $110.22 and last traded at $110.22. Approximately 49,714 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 20% from the average daily volume of 41,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLAB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.64 and its 200-day moving average is $114.56. The stock has a market cap of $592.47 million, a PE ratio of -2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

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 paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $187,375.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,213,794.56. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLAB. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.