Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MLAB. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB opened at $120.81 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.41. The firm has a market cap of $653.46 million, a P/E ratio of -2.60 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.94. Mesa Laboratories has a 52-week low of $82.86 and a 52-week high of $141.17.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.55. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 18.95% and a negative net margin of 111.89%. The company had revenue of $58.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.90 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently -1.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mesa Laboratories news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $286,095.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,213,794.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,119 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 66.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 44.1% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 22,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after buying an additional 6,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.5% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 194,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,324,000 after buying an additional 4,801 shares during the last quarter. 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.