Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MLAB opened at $112.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $127.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.75. Mesa Laboratories has a 1-year low of $82.86 and a 1-year high of $141.17.

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

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.38%.

Insider Activity at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 643.8% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 64,776 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,108,000 after purchasing an additional 56,067 shares during the last quarter. Meros Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $2,456,000. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $2,606,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Mesa Laboratories by 7.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 131,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,444,000 after acquiring an additional 8,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $596,000. 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.