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

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $148.00 and last traded at $144.35, with a volume of 16966 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLAB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 1.7 %

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 capitalization of $773.29 million, a PE ratio of -3.13 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.20.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $57.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.60 million. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 28.52% and a negative net margin of 107.56%. As a group, analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MLAB. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter worth $26,000. FMR LLC increased its position 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 during the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased 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 in the last quarter. 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.