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 report issued on Wednesday.

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

Mesa Laboratories Trading Down 4.1 %

MLAB opened at $107.77 on Wednesday. Mesa Laboratories has a one year low of $83.68 and a one year high of $141.17. The company has a market cap of $585.19 million, a P/E ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.95.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,213,794.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the firm’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 value 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MLAB. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $26,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $70,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $183,000. 90.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.