Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 90.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,001 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,643 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $1,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meros Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,456,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 valued at $11,444,000 after acquiring an additional 8,722 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 89.3% in the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 16,488 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 7,779 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $596,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $588,000. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLAB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,213,794.56. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of MLAB stock opened at $109.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $592.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.39 and a beta of 0.87. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $83.68 and a 52-week high of $141.17. 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’s 50 day moving average is $121.31 and its 200 day moving average is $114.52.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.40%.

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.