Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Purchased by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 10.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,955 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $19,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 741 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MLAB shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of MLAB stock opened at $109.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.56. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.68 and a 12-month high of $141.17.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently -1.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,794.56. This trade 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.